“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.” Matthew 10: 37
This is one of those verses that make me say, “I must be missing something.” Until I give it some thought. It makes stark the reality that we are supposed to love Jesus above all.
One day, we will be separated from family and friends— whether we wish it or not— but we will never be separated from Christ.
Watkins, James (2016-01-12). The Imitation of Christ: Classic Devotions in Today’s Language (Kindle Locations 436-437). Worthy Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Face it. We can’t trust anyone like we can Jesus. Everyone else will turn on us, will disappoint us, will put something above us. We need to realize what this verse says and what it doesn’t say. It says we are to put Jesus first. It doesn’t say we are not to love others. In fact, the way we are identified as followers of Jesus is the way we love others.
In fact, putting Jesus first is a matter of putting ourselves last. It means putting others ahead of ourselves. It means allocating our time to Jesus and the things that he commands of us. It means being missional.
By putting Jesus first, we are enabled to love others, like our mother and father or our son or daughter, in a way we could never love them without Jesus.
When you put this verse in perspective, it no longer seems strange. It seems perfectly reasonable.
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