"If you love your father or mother more than you love me, 

you are not worthy of being mine;

or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.

If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, 

you are not worthy of being mine.

If you cling to your life, you will lose it;

but if you give up your life for me, 

you will find it."

Matthew 10:37-39 NLT

This is not some kind of competition about love, but part of Jesus message to the 12 before he sends them out. Out without any resources, out into a hostile world where some people will reject them, persecute them, harm them.

Out as sheep among wolves.

Going out with a message announcing that the Kingdom is near, the Kingdom people have been waiting for, but announce it from this place of powerlessness and weakness. 

This is an incredibly difficult assignment, and if their family is front of mind, they'd give it up and go home. 

If the life they had before meeting Jesus was so important they'd give up the assignment and go back to that life. 

But if they put Jesus' call on their lives first, there is something else to be discovered. 

Something else to be found. 

Tim Keller used the phrase our "self-salvation" project. What have I been relying on, when I really need to lean into Jesus, to simply follow Him?

What am I putting my faith in?

Our calling may not be as radical as the 12, but the invitation is there, to put Jesus first, as there's more to discover...

#wordsofJesus

#redletterBible

#rememberyouarealreadybeloved