This devotion rings true in so many ways. People can try to be very manipulative, especially family members, spouses, children. When you give your entire life over to God many will not understand. I have heard people, even scholars twist this passage time and time again...
"If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, . . . he cannot be My disciple." —Luke 14:26
This past week I heard this professor of religion studies say how the Bible is so conflicting and all I can do was shake my head. God tells us all the time to study his word and to ask questions. As a wise man told me, "You got to know God for yourself." That is a must. Jesus did not mean literally to "hate" your father, mother, children. What I have come to realize in my own life is that we all are falling natures in regards to the Garden of Eden. We as humans are selfish at times, manipulative, envy, jealous, we hoard at times...that is our falling nature. We notice this in work place from time to time, there is someone who may not like you "just because" and sometimes we may feel that way about others.
We may be right at times for having those feelings and sometimes we have to eat crow because we were totally wrong about the individual. When you begin doing things God's way many family members will not understand. They will call you names, they will try and make feel like you are wasting your life, they will say things like , "you think you are better than me." or "you think you are 'Holier Than Thou'"(sometimes I want to ask people do you really know what that means?) and the family members that truly know God will come along aside you let you know it's okay because they have been through the same ridicule. When you are a baby Christian (I'm still a baby Christian myself) you will make mistakes along the way but the more you get into God's word, get into a GOOD biblical church, not a religious church (that my friends is a big difference) you will mature and learn wisdom as well as knowledge in the word of God.
What Christ Jesus means is that when you put Him first in everything you do, you realize that situations change, people change, people will let you down on purpose, for their own gain and most times just by accident. We put God first in our lives because He keeps you and I balance, He teaches us how to be patient when it comes to important decisions, who we should have friendships with throughout our lives, what's important, what we should lay be the wayside. If you ever notice when we put people, or possessions first soon or a later things go out of whack, why, because things are man made, people are fickle at times, we all are because we have emotions, moods. Now I will admit many people have serious mood swings because they choose to and others may have them because of medical conditions. The point is that when God comes first in our lives, He gives you and I wisdom to know when to hang in there and when to let go.
Too many times when try and handle situations that God can only turn around and the things we can handle in our lives we leave this up to our Heavenly Father. That is why you must stay in his words, follow His principles because in the end when doing it His way it turns out for the best.
Following God's ways is a hard at first but over times it becomes easier and easier. You realize as you mature in God's word you come to realize that you will have to go through valleys in your life but knowing that He is with you your testimony because a beacon for others. We fight against our flesh everyday. Some days are better than others but by putting God first in your life you will realize that you may lose some relationships that you thought were dear to you down the road you will realize that they were really harmful and the new relationships you make will make your life much fulfilling, more balanced. When having a true, deep relationship with God you learn to not judge people but the decisions they make because having God first in your life makes your steps much smoother day after day.
Be Blessed, Be Safe, and have a Wonderful Friday/Weekend. ^_^
"The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,
turning a man from the snares of death.
Good understanding wins favor,
but the way of the unfaithful is hard."
~Proverbs 13:14-15
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