What Have You Given Up to Follow Christ?

When you think about following Christ, what comes to mind? Perhaps going to church, reading your Bible, praying, or trying to live a better life. Those are good things, but following Christ reaches much deeper than that. It involves surrendering ourselves to Him and allowing Him to change the way we think, live, and treat others.

Jesus said, “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’” (Luke 9:23)

Those words may sound demanding, but consider what they really mean. Jesus is not asking us to earn our salvation by giving up enough things to please Him. Salvation is a gift of God's grace. But when we belong to Christ, our lives begin to change, and sometimes those changes require us to let go of things we once considered important.

Perhaps you have given up an old habit that was controlling your life. Maybe you have learned to hold your tongue when you once would have spoken in anger. You may have walked away from friendships that were leading you in the wrong direction. Or perhaps you have learned to forgive someone you once thought you could never forgive.

Those things may not seem like great sacrifices to the world, but they matter. Sometimes giving up our pride is harder than giving up our possessions. Learning to say, “Lord, Your will, not mine,” can be one of the most difficult lessons of the Christian life.

Paul wrote, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Notice that Paul did not say we become perfect. He said we become new. God begins a work in us that continues as we grow in our faith. We may still struggle with old habits, wrong attitudes, and selfish desires, but those struggles do not mean God has stopped working.

And here is something worth remembering. What we surrender to Christ is never greater than what we receive from Him. We may give up sinful pleasures, pride, or the desire to control our own lives, but we gain something the world cannot provide. We have forgiveness, peace with God, and the assurance of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Paul understood that better than most. He wrote, “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:8)

So when you consider what you have given up to follow Christ, don't think only about what you have lost. Think about the person you used to be and the person God is helping you become. Perhaps you are more patient, more forgiving, or more willing to serve others than you once were. Those changes are evidence of His work in your life.

And if you still have things you struggle to surrender, don't become discouraged. Keep following Him, keep growing in His Word, and keep trusting Him to finish what He has begun.

The question is not simply, “What have you given up to follow Christ?” Perhaps the better question is, “What has Christ given you that makes everything else worth surrendering?”

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“What I write is not for everyone, but what I write is meant for someone.” – Dean Butler

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