Worthy of Him?

Matthew 10:37-38 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

It is an exclusive relationship! It always seems to me that people have a problem with this concept.

Jesus said if I didn’t love Him more than I loved my parents, my children, and myself that I was not worthy of Him. Basically I have to choose. He is first or not at all!

God’s people rebel when they hear this many times but it seems so reasonable to me. In marriage I would think that is the basis for strong love. What man wants to marry a woman that would put him in second or third place to their parents, their children or even themselves.

Jesus is the God of the universe. He is the Saviour. He is the Lord. He is everything. He wants us to love Him enough that He matters more than any and every thing.

How does that play out in our lives? It means that we decide to do what He wants us to do regardless of how it affects the other three relationships. There will be times that our family will let it be known that they prefer that we express more love towards them than God Himself.

We definitely have the problem of loving ourselves more than the Lord Jesus. We make life decisions based on pleasing ourselves, our parents and our children more often than based on pleasing the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus demands our complete love and devotion. He will not take second place. That means that we will deny ourselves and what we want to please Him. That means that family though very important is not nearly as important as the Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not feel worthy of Him at all! He has done and is so much for and to me. I do know that making decisions I should be more concerned about His will than anyone else, especially myself.

What do you think? Have I exaggerated the importance of our loving the Lord Jesus Christ? Does God want us to be more concerned about our relationship with Him? Do we need to reaffirm our love for Him right now? Do we need to confess our selfishness and our people pleasing and leave it to love Him?

Let me know what you think!