March 25th | Cross-Bearing

Taking up our cross means willingly embracing humility, sacrifice, and even suffering for the sake of Jesus. It means putting to death the ego that demands to be first, the ambitions driven by self-glory, and the constant chase for personal validation.

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Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

We must stop making this world about us.

Every day we face a clear choice: continue feeding our selfish interests, personal agendas, and sinful desires—or lay them down and surrender fully to Christ.

True discipleship begins with a daily decision and a daily discipline: denying ourselves, dying to our own will, and allowing His will to become ours.

Our own ideas and ambitions often act like a limiting lens. They distort reality and pull us toward what culture calls “success”—wealth, status, comfort, and achievement. But Jesus warns us not to fall for that narrative. He calls us to live for a reality we cannot yet see, a kingdom that operates on a completely different value system.

There is a coming day when everything will be turned right-side up: what the world counts as gain will be revealed as loss, and what looks like loss for Christ’s sake will be revealed as eternal gain.

Taking up our cross (cross-bearing) means willingly embracing humility, sacrifice, and even suffering for the sake of Jesus. It means putting to death the ego that demands to be first, the ambitions driven by self-glory, and the constant chase for personal validation.

At first glance, this sounds backward and even foolish. Why would we be born into this world only to learn how to die to it? But those who have walked with Christ long enough discover the beautiful paradox: the most fulfilling life is never found in self-promotion, but in self-surrender. When we live for others and for something far greater than ourselves, real joy and purpose begin to flow.

Nothing this world offers—no amount of success, pleasure, or achievement—can compare to the treasure of eternal life with Him.

In the end, we don’t get to decide whether we “made the most” of our lives. Jesus will. On Judgment Day, His approval is the only metric that matters.

So today, let’s ask ourselves honestly:

Am I trying to save my life… or am I willing to lose it for Him?