August 11

No Cross, No Crown

Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. — Matt 16:24 BSB

The cross is something we are to take up willingly, not just bear when it’s laid on our shoulders. This implies a cheerful spirit in our suffering for Christ. Some people endure trials but do so with constant complaining. But the spirit of Christ’s words calls for cheerfulness in suffering. When we meet suffering with joy, half the burden is lifted.

Notice also that each person is to take up his own cross, not someone else’s. We are to bear the specific cross that God lays before us. We aren’t meant to make crosses for ourselves, but we are to accept the ones given to us. Each person’s own cross is the best one for them to bear. Sometimes we think our burdens are particularly heavy, and we compare our lot with others, wishing we could exchange our cross for theirs. But we don’t really know what other people’s crosses are like. If we could take them up, we might not want to keep them. The cross that seems covered in flowers may have sharp thorns hidden underneath. The cross of gold that appears so bright may be unbearably heavy. The easiest cross for each person to bear is their own.

There’s a way to remove the cross from our lives entirely. A father explained it to his child like this: He took two pieces of wood, one longer than the other, and said, “Let the longer piece represent God’s will, and the shorter piece your will. When I lay the shorter piece across the longer one, it forms a cross. But if I lay them side by side, there is no cross. In the same way, there is no cross in our lives when our will aligns with God’s. A cross forms only when our will resists His.” The way to eliminate crosses is to lovingly accept whatever trials, pains, or losses God sends, aligning our will with His.