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Luke 14:26-27 New Living Translation
{Paraphrased} 26 “If you want to be My disciple {says the Lord Jesus}, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be My disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple.
You will learn what Jesus means in these verses when you are encountering death in the Spirit. Death is the way to God. When you love Jesus more than life, God is killing you and recreating your heart. It is a resurrection of the Lord in you from backsliding. You hate this life because you want to be with Jesus instead. This is the result of God killing your heart. When anything gets in the way of that fellowship with the Holy Spirit, you start to hate it because you want to be with God more than be with family and more than to be in this life. You're not suicidal. Dying isn't your motive when you hate this life in comparison to being with Jesus. Your motive is to live with Jesus forever. You want to be with God.
Here is a scripture passage where Jesus connects hating this life in comparison to being with Him, with death.
John 12:24-25 New Living Translation
{Paraphrased} 24 I tell you the truth {says the Lord Jesus}, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. 25 Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
Mercy Killing
In context with the topic of death in this passage, the Lord Jesus is saying in verse 24 that God's people will physically die if they are unfruitful in ministry. An early death. With the planting of the unfruitful Christian's body into the dirt, a harvest of human souls will be won in life to salvation in Christ. The Holy Spirit will use the planted Christian's body to save human souls. Without the planting, there would be no fruit for that soul's account on Judgement Day. Winning human souls is what bearing fruit means to God in the Bible. Those won human souls will be credited to that Christian's account on Judgement Day by the planting of that Christian's body into the dirt at a funeral.
Proverbs 11:30 Authorized (King James) Version 30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.
Fulfilling Your Call to Ministry
In verse 25, the Lord is saying that if the Christian doesn't care for this life in comparison to knowing Jesus and wanting Jesus more than life and family, then the Lord will use the Christian's ministry in life to win souls to Christ and to credit fruit to their account for Judgement Day. This judgement on Judgement Day, is what the Lord is talking about in Mt. 25.
Salvation vs Eternal Death
These passages also have meaning for people getting saved for the first time. That, if a person loves their life; chooses to live their life instead of love God more than their life, that they will lose it forever. But if they give their life to Jesus and love Jesus more than life, they will keep their life forever. Jesus is simply inviting people to get saved in these passages.
God First
When the Lord says to hate your life and family to be His disciple, He also means to keep God in priority over life and everything in it. Keep Jesus first in priority to your family, friends, money and over your own life. God first. This means to love and to listen to Jesus in priority to family & friends, and to keep in priority over your own life.
Matthew 6:19-34 New Living Translation Teaching about Money and Possessions
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth {says the Lord Jesus}, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in Heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! 24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. 25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to Him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? 28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God [a] above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. 34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Footnotes
6:33 Some manuscripts do not include of God.
Knowing Jesus Is Better Than Life
Lapsed Video of a Kernal of Wheat Growing in the Dirt
Like God Uses Death to Give Us Eternal Life