Prophet's Blog

Luke 14:24-26 (New King James Version)
24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’” 25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Quite honestly, the passage of scripture above makes me cringe. If we examine it from a superficial perspective, it seems strange to be coming out of the mouth of the Lord, but I believe if we dig a little bit deeper we can get some insight into this verse.

We all know that the Lord is not the author of confusion, and in the Old Testament as well as out of Jesus' own mouth He told us to love and honor our parents. However, He also seems to contradict His loving and peaceful nature when He speaks (Luke 12:51) of coming to the world not to bring peace, but division (even in a household). What is He really saying to us?

In the Greek translation, it's pretty much what you would expect in English, "to detest, to love less." So once again, is our Lord telling us to despise our family and even ourselves? I believe Luke 14:27 clarifies what He means:

Luke 14:27 (New King James Version)
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Taking up the cross of our Lord goes to the heart of the matter. When the Lord spoke about dividing, I believe that the dividing line is Calvary. There are two camps, one defined by a lifestyle of acceptance of Jesus and His statutes, or one in which we serve our own interests or define ourselves by earthly characteristics. Which camp are you in? Although I am a proud African-American woman, my primary focus and devotion is to being in the Lord's camp.

When the Lord says take up your cross daily, that's what He means. We are to take up crosses, not nail people to them, or burn them on someone's property. The Lord made it clear that the entire law of Moses hangs on the royal law of love, i.e, do unto others as you would have them do to you, serve others, take the lower position during interactions instead of seeking to be placed on a pedestal (place of material, emotional, power-based or other forms of superiority).

Once again, all of these commands seem to contradict being told to hate the ones you are to serve and love, but have we taken a look a this so-called contradiction in light of the flesh factor?

Romans 7:18 tells us in no uncertain terms that there is nothing good about our flesh:

Romans 7:18 (New King James Version)
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.

Romans 8;1 brings even more clarity to the issue:

Romans 8:1
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

This is where the "rubber meets the road." When we walk after the Spirit, we are taking up our crosses and crucifying our flesh. In my humble opinion, I believe when this attitude is inserted in marriages, family relationships, work relationships and other situations that we encounter, the door is open for the Lord to go to war against the forces of darkness that have people bound. The lord is not telling us to hate for the sake of hate, He wants us to detest carnality in any form ( no matter how wholesome and righteous it may appear) because we are in a fallen world and we need to desire to serve and exemplify His nature above any earthly thing. How many times are wives devastated because they just knew their husband would never cheat or an elderly person feels discarded and worthless because that favorite child has forsaken them? The lord knows generational curses may have people doing things that they said they would never do, and that's why it's for our sake and the sake of those that we love that we are to put Him first, and hate, or prize everything else at a lower level.

As a wife and mother of a little over 21 years, my pain and frustration is no different than that which has been had through the ages by other women. However, I thank God daily that because I obeyed the Lord and loved Him more than myself, when I felt betrayed, let down and unappreciated, He gave me the strength to show the God kind of love (agape) that I could not have done had my priorities been out of order. When He is first, that opens the door for His anointing and deliverance to flow freely. So, in every situation we are to draw that line in the sand and allow room for the Lord to work out dysfunction in a supernatural way that years of counseling and mediation may never be able to fix.