Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”.
Matt. 16:24 NIVUK
I used to feel so guilty about the idea of denying myself and taking the cross and follow Jesus. I always thought that what I have done or will do won’t be enough.
Recently I was in a mentoring class where we discussed the journey of spiritual maturity. We looked at the different stages of life, faith and how we can become better followers of Jesus without the guilt factor.
If we are honest, we all have failed and fall short of the mark, so why does this matter?
It matters because at the very heart of following Jesus we find that it is about “becoming like him”. It is not about what we do or don’t do, but it is about being in him and he in us. When we become like him failures are just training ground where we are allowed to take risks and make mistakes and in that place, guilt is not found.
Taking the cross and following him it is a process of becoming like our master.
D.L. 