Good morning, and welcome to Grace For Another Morning.
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
Luke 14:26Those are difficult words.
Jesus said that anyone who comes to Him and does not “hate” father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters—even his own life—cannot be His disciple.
At first reading, that seems completely contrary to everything else Scripture teaches about love.
Jesus was not commanding cruelty toward our families. He was using deliberately shocking language to make something unmistakably clear:
No human relationship can occupy the place that belongs to Christ.
For many of us, the danger is not that we love our families too much. Loving our spouse, children, parents, and those God has entrusted to us is good.
The danger comes when our desire to provide for them, protect them, please them, or build a secure future for them quietly becomes more important than our relationship with God.
We can tell ourselves we are doing something noble.
We are working harder for the family.
Building the career.
Saving for the future.
Trying to make life better for the people we love.
And somewhere in all that good activity, Christ begins receiving whatever time is left over.
I know how easily that can happen.
There was a time when I became so consumed with building a good life, a career, and a stable future for my wife and children that I stopped spending meaningful time with God.
Nothing I was pursuing seemed wrong.
That was precisely what made it dangerous.
I was trying to build something good for the people I loved while neglecting the One who had given them to me.
Jesus’ words force us to examine the order of our loves.
He is not asking us to care less about our families.
He is telling us that we can love them rightly only when He remains first.
Grace for Today
Ask yourself one uncomfortable question today:
What person, responsibility, dream, or relationship would be hardest for me to surrender if following Christ required it?
You do not have to love your family less.
Love Christ first.
Then allow your love for Him to shape how you love everyone else.
A Prayer for Today
Lord,
You have given me people I deeply love, and I thank You for them.
But never let any person, dream, responsibility, or future become more important to me than You.
Forgive me for the times I have become so busy building a good life that I have neglected the One who gave me life.
Teach me to put You first—not merely with my words, but with my time, my choices, and my heart.
And because I love You first, help me love the people You have placed in my life even better.
Amen.
Putting Christ first does not diminish the people you love. It teaches you how to love them well.