Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”
Some of Jesus’ teachings land on our hearts like a Cat 5 hurricane. They rip off the roofs and demolish the walls of our carefully constructed viewpoints. If we take his words seriously—words like those found in Luke 14:26—we should expect irreparable damage to our self-centered lifestyles.
Everything in life pales in comparison with loving the God who wants our whole heart. This includes all our achievements, our “good deeds,” our nearest and dearest relationships. Maybe that’s why Jesus put it in such drastic terms. He wanted us to get it: only love for God has the power to help us release the burdens we put on other things and other people to satisfy our needs. In fact, Tim Keller writes “If you love anything in this world more than God, you will crush that object under the weight of your expectations.”
Most of us already know we should love God more than anything. The challenge from this passage in Luke makes us question how much more? Jesus says in comparison to loving God, our love for those closest to us should seem like hatred. I don’t know about you, but that shakes me up a bit.
Loving God puts everything else in perspective. Everything. The intensity with which we love God actually gives us the framework to love people more, even lay down our lives for them, because our egos demand nothing in return.
I don’t want to dismiss Jesus’ words as mere hyperbole. So I’ve been digging into them. I’ve realized every time I have an over-reaction to someone’s behavior or to a circumstance out of my control, it most often stems from assigning too much importance to the person or the situation. Only when I step back and recall what’s of most importance—God’s love—do I find peace.
I recently saw an advertisement for a new AOL app:“Stay on top of what your care about most.” I’m taking that to heart. Not by making plans for a new phone app, but by prioritizing loving God more and more, with all my “heart, mind, strength and soul” (Mark 12:30).
Let’s not shrink back from those Cat 5 words of Jesus. They bring life.