Peace in Today's War

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26).

In commenting on this passage, Oswald Chambers says:

Any one of the relationships our Lord mentions in this verse can compete with our relationship with Him. I may prefer to belong to my mother, or to my wife, or to myself, but if that is the case, then, Jesus said, “[You] cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that I will not be saved, but it does mean that I cannot be entirely His.

(Click here to read the rest of today's My Utmost For His Highest.)

You and I live our lives in relationship with others, and in relationship with our own self. We are in relationship with our Lord too -- but when we start belonging to Jesus, the struggles and, dare I say it, the wars that we are involved in with our parents and spouses and children etc., and our stubborn or weak selves, can be understood and felt as a normal part of the fact that you and I do not belong to ourselves anymore. There is an alien presence guiding us that will always, in some ways, be at war with the situations and people that we live with -- including my very own me.

Jesus' words here, and the example of his sometimes unhappy relationship with his own family, are a gift to us, giving us peace in today's war.

Don't be discouraged when you face this conflict. It really is the normal part of a disciple's life in this fallen world. Look to the Lord and know you're not alone, even in the close, uncomfortable and conflicted relationships of your everyday life.

from http://utmost.org/his/

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