Being a disciple of Jesus

Being a disciple of Jesus requires

being able to calculate to what extent one should pay the price.

If one does not properly calculate the cost to be paid and follows Jesus,

it will be like building a house

and only laying the foundation without completing it,

unable to faithfully walk the path of discipleship to the end.

The cost that a disciple must pay includes

our parents, spouse, children, siblings, and even our own life.

As disciples of Jesus,

we must love Jesus more (above all) than all of these things

(Luke 14:26-30).

The disciple of Jesus is someone

who sacrifices his life for Jesus and the gospel

(Mark 8:35).

He is not a disciple of Jesus.

Anyone who gives glory to himself

by boasting about bearing fruit on his own

without being in the Lord

is not a disciple of Jesus who has been cleansed

by the word of the Lord

(John 15:3-4, 8).

Jesus' disciples know.

Disciples of Jesus who confess the correct faith

in who Jesus is through God's revelation

know that they will suffer and be killed for Jesus and the gospel

at God's time according to God's will

(Mark 8:27-31, 35).