What are you willing to give up?

Luke 9:23 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, and take up their cross and follow me”

There are undeniable sacrifices we have to make in this life as believers to follow Christ and to serve God acceptably. There are things we have to give up in order to follow Christ completely. We have to give up our own fleshly desires. It is not going to be easy. It may mean giving up your dream job, not going to parties with friends, spending more time in God’s Word and in prayers! Even though some people might think you are strange, you should focus on God more than everything else. No one has ever achieved greatness without sacrifice. What are you willing to give up? What are you willing to sacrifice for God and His kingdom? What are you willing to sacrifice to live free from the torment of Satan?  I know those are touchy questions that might even make you feel uncomfortable a little bit. But sometimes you have to ask yourself some hard questions and see what you are willing to do. There are a lot of different directions to turn in your life, but you have to be careful to make the right one so you do not end up in the way of death (Proverbs 14:12). If your heart’s desire is to follow Christ, there are things you must give up: hanging out with wrong crowd, indulging your flesh, romancing with the “old man” (Ephesians 4:22). There are things you must give up to live the victorious abundant life made available to you by the sacrifice of Christ; you have a choice to make.