Will you need to give up everything to follow Jesus?

[theokayman1]

Jesus said in Luke 14:33 that you need to give up everything to follow Jesus and in my mind have a relationship with him. Is that true?

[OneLight]

God has a plan for everyone's life.  Everyone has their own plan for their life.  When the two are not the same, those who follow Christ will give up their plan for His, so yes, we have to die to ourselves in order for Him to live in and through us.

[other one]

8 hours ago, theokayman1 said:

Jesus said in Luke 14:33 that you need to give up everything to follow Jesus and in my mind have a relationship with him. Is that true?

You make it sound bad.....  "give up everything" can mean different things to a lot of people.

Would you have to give up being a drunk....  I would think so.  I think we would need to discuss what "things"are.

Follow Jesus and have a relationship with him........  oh my, you have no idea of how great it is to be in that position.  Having a relationship with the creator of the universe is a glorious thing....

From experience of coming from kind of far down the ladder I would say that you would have to give up things that are detrimental to you and accept many many things that are helpful.   Peace of mind would be one of the most rewarding to me.

[No124get1952]

Your question hinges on the word "need". I will share from my own life. God never really asked me to give up everything. As I began to grow in faith, I found that "other" things such as alcohol, smoking, work, etc. became hindrances to the development of my spiritual life. Now since I couldn't "give up" my job and survive, I had to learn that putting the job in proper priority with respect to God was "giving up" my job. In other words, my relationship with Jesus became more important than my job. That manifested in me being a better employee because Jesus did not want me to be habitually late. In addition, I adjusted my attitude towards management because they represented God's authority over that part of my life.

I have been a Christian for nearly 50 years and I can say that I pretty much have "given up everything" to follow Christ. But the "giving up" was more a process of learning what pleased Jesus and then removing things that did not please Him. Since he is gracious and forgiving, we can take our time and get rid of things as we are ready to do so. But the process of "giving up" things is not as terrible as one might think. Because Jesus is a God of exchanges. Even though it might not be crystal clear from Scripture, there is not one thing you give up for God that He does not give you something better in return. For example, giving up my bad attitudes toward people, allowed God to give me joy and peace which caused my own mind to come into order and caused me to change my thought patterns from negative to positive.

So while the concept of "giving up" everything is radical, the actual process may or may not be so. It's up to Jesus and each individual. My question is this: do you want 10% of Jesus; 50% of Jesus; or 100%. You can have which ever one you want. But with increasing percentages, you will find greater sacrifice is required...but there are greater rewards as well.

 

Blessings

[BK1110]

We must be willing to give up everything for Him. In practicality, most people are never asked to. It's a question of dedication of the heart and mind and body. Part of our faith is knowing that God knows best for us; if we believe that, then we should be willing to act like it by following Him instead of ourselves.

[Kevinw]

I think the point to take away from this verse is that we should be completely devoted to Christ.  There should not be any parts of our lives that are not devoted to him.  There should be nothing that we are holding back, so to speak.  Christ wants disciples who are entirely committed to him, with no reservations.

[Neighbor]

On 7/13/2017 at 2:10 AM, theokayman1 said:

Jesus said in Luke 14:33 that you need to give up everything to follow Jesus and in my mind have a relationship with him. Is that true?

Luke 14:33 is a concluding statement preceded by much information that qualifies the conclusion. 

Luke 14  The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵ Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

[missmuffet]

It all depends on how much importance you put on all your possessions. A Christian needs to look at their heart. Are these possessions more important than God?

[theokayman1]

4 hours ago, Neighbor said:

"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."

Do you have to really hate them to follow Jesus or do you have to love Jesus more than them? Like put Jesus as your #1 priority.

 

Luke 14:33 is a concluding statement preceded by much information that qualifies the conclusion. 

Luke 14  The Cost of Discipleship

²⁵ Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him,³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

 

[Neighbor]

7 hours ago, theokayman1 said:

 

Hi theokayman1,

Jesus read the Bible of His time in the flesh on earth that which  is what we now call the Old testament.  I find, one needs to  look at the fuller context that He (Jesus) was familiar with and that his immediate audience also knew and studied. 

The Old Testament references to the English word or term hate is found  within Genesis and In Malachi.

The immediate audience of Jesus had an advantage over most Christians of today  in that they they did know  the Bible. The same Bible Jesus  read in his walk  in the flesh and quoted as he spoke to those that  did also know the Bible. Therefore they knew the context in which He spoke when He used the word hate, or any other word or phrase for that matter. He most always quoted or referenced the Bible. Which btw had no verses separated out and isolated from it's full  context at that time. 

So  looking at uses of the word hate in the old testament is it not necessary to consider it's use in the relationship of Jacob, leah and Rachael ( Genesis 29)? Plus what God did in making one barren and the other most fruitful. Did Jacob truly hate Leah, or did he love her less than Rachael? Did he really hate the intimate act that bore him offspring with leah more than once? Look at what God did in this relationship. It is God that is sovereign. It is his will that dominates. At Malachi 1 there is also the word hate. I leave the context and also the application that may be made in regard to Jesus  making His statement.

As for me I concluded that I must turn about, an actual repentance, from all that which I have learned to cherish highly, the comfort of family, of parents, all that I have known, in order to  follow Jesus, and I must do so  at whatever cost it shall be. Otherwise  I cannot be a disciple of Jesus. I can put nothing above my Lord, nothing at all. That is a tall order, for there is comfort in the things of this world, the inheritance  to be received, but it must all be considered as waste if I am to follow Jesus. To follow and not just be  a fan  of His. I must consider Him to have become God in the flesh,  to have died and arose again to bring victory over death itself for me. Me personally! And I must bow before Him and no other.

In my natural state I would not bow, no I would instead cling to the hope of my inheritance from parents, my familiar things of the world, and my own greed for earthly abundance and advantage. But,- I have been made aware of my Lord Jesus by the specific calling  to me personally by the Holy Spirit, and at hearing, I desire, more than anything familiar to me, the treasure that is Jesus my Lord my savior. That leaves me in a bit of a situation, for I am in the world but not of it. And that is what Jesus said that day to an understanding audience. You can't have the world, nearly worshipping it's values and gains, and have Me ( Jesus) too.

That's my understanding-

Cordially, Neighbor

Edited August 11, 2017 by Neighbor