Count The Cost

Jesus told us to count the cost of following Him. The world expects us to conform to it, but God expects us to be set apart from the world. Therefore, God's way is in direct conflict to the world and the world's way is in direct conflict to God. God also expects you to put Him first, above even yourself, and above your own family.

𝙇𝙪𝙠𝙚 14:26-33 𝙆𝙅𝙑

26 𝙄𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨, 𝙮𝙚𝙖, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤, 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚.

27 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙤𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚.

28 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙖 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧, 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙩, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙞𝙩?

29 𝙇𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙡𝙮, 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙞𝙩, 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙝𝙞𝙢,

30 𝙎𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝.

31 𝙊𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙖𝙣𝙙?

32 𝙊𝙧 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙛𝙛, 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚.

33 𝙎𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚.

People are not going to understand you for your love of and devotion to Jesus. You will struggle. There are times you will feel alone (although you are never alone because Jesus is always with you).

When you're calculating the cost, keep one very important thing in mind: is it worth your soul being sent to hell to perish in order to make everyone else happy for the brief time that you're here in this earth, or is it better to please God and to have a future of eternal life in heaven even if it means you may have to go it alone while you're here?

𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙬 16:25-26 𝙆𝙅𝙑

25 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩: 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙩.

26 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙛𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙞𝙛 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡? 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡?

Jesus was upfront and honest with us about what to expect if we follow Him. He told us we could even expect division within our own families.

𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙬 10:34-38 𝙆𝙅𝙑

34 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝: 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖 𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙.

35 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙫𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙬 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙖𝙬.

36 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙢𝙖𝙣'𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙.

37 𝙃𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚: 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚.

38 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚.

𝙇𝙪𝙠𝙚 9:23-24 𝙆𝙅𝙑

23 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙄𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙮, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙚. 24 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙩: 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙤𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙖𝙠𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩.

So yes, the cost can and will be expensive. But you will never be alone. Jesus will comfort you, strengthen you, and encourage you along the way. He will never allow you to endure more than you can handle. And if you can endure until the end, then you will be rewarded. After all, the ultimate prize is to spend eternity in heaven with Him!