1 Peter 3
Bible Passage: 1 Peter 3
Take up Your Cross and Follow Me
But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” (1 Pet 3:14)
We often hear from the pulpit that, as followers of Christ, we need to equip ourselves with the mind to suffer for the Lord and to take up our cross to follow Him. During Apostle Peter’s time believers indeed had to suffer persecution and were badmouthed for believing in Jesus. Today, we may not have to suffer in such a way, but we still have to take up our cross to follow Jesus.
What does it mean to take up our cross?
I believe that it means different things to different people, but in a nutshell, we can say that it requires us to give up what is most precious to us and to face what we are most afraid of for the sake of fulfilling God’s will, glorifying His name, and edifying others.
Maybe it’s personal time, opportunities, or freedom that we need to sacrifice in order to help someone in need, to do church work or to fulfill God’s command to us to be submissive.
Maybe it’s an illness that we need to face with faith and patience.
Nobody likes to suffer, but Apostle Peter reminds us to look up to Jesus: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Pet 3: 18).
Jesus was obedient to the will of the heavenly father and bravely took up His cross. He suffered even unto death and, in return, brought the greatest blessing ever to mankind—salvation.
Likewise, we will be greatly blessed if we suffer in order to fulfill God’s will in our lives. The other day, a minister shared the following story:
Once upon a time, there was a man who bore a heavy cross. He knew he had to carry this cross, but he very much wanted to lighten his burden. So he came up with a clever idea: he cut off a piece of the lower end of the cross, so that the cross became symmetrical and could be carried more easily. Happy about his lightened burden, he went on carrying his cross.
At the end of his journey, he came to a gorge. On the other side, he could see a very beautiful land. The people in front of him cast their crosses across the divide and safely walked over the cross to the other side. But when he wanted to do the same, his cross tumbled down the gorge because it was too short to bridge the gap.
Today, if we accept the cross that Jesus has given to us, without trying to find excuses and shortcuts, we will be able to walk over to the other side safe and sound. We will be blessed.
The only question that remains is: Are we willing?