A Personal Cross

Many Christians are plagued with problems that never seem to go away because they will not take up their cross. They do not accept their death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus Christ.

I must make a decision to take up my cross each moment of the day. If I am passive toward that decision, my passivity reveals that I am taking up my cross only occasionally-usually when I receive material blessings.

For example, when an employee takes up his cross daily, he always has more fun in the office and he works with a consistent level of energy. He doesn’t get mad at co-workers, because he has disconnected himself from the “old man” who is angry all the time.

Even Jesus, though He was without sin, faced strong temptations in His humanity, especially after He had fasted for forty days (Matthew 4). But Jesus refused to connect with those temptations. He made choices to honor the Father’s will in every situation.

“Not my will but thine be done.” This is what it means to take up a personal cross.