“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:1-2 NKJV)
It is a mere self-delusion for any believer to seek to follow Christ and experience a victorious Christian life without taking up his cross daily. The cross is not something to bear or experience once in a lifetime or occasionally, but daily or constantly (Luke 9:23).
You cease to follow Christ and experience victory in your Christian life whenever you shun or evade the cross!
In the first part of this piece, we began to examine what the Scripture teaches about the right cross to take up daily and what it implies to take up the cross daily.
Let us briefly recap the main points.
First, the cross is your daily choice to voluntarily obey and follow the Lord Jesus, notwithstanding the cost. Whatever is forced upon you is not your cross!
Second, the cross is a life of daily submission to God’s plan, process, will, and way.
Taking up your cross implies your willingness to embrace with joy whatever comes out of your complete submission or obedience to the Lord and your pursuit of the ministry you have received from the Lord (Acts 20:22-24).
Third, the cross is the altar of sacrifice. Bearing the cross implies a willingness to give up all, even your physical life, if need be, for the sake of Christ.
Fourth, the cross is a symbol, mark, or evidence of death. But much more than this, the cross is also an instrument of death.
Your self-life (old man) was terminated through the cross (Rom. 6:6). The cross is also the divine means or instrument for releasing Christ-life in your mortal body (2 Cor. 4:11, Gal. 2:20).
Let us further discover from the Scripture the right crosses the believers should bear or take up daily to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fifth, the cross is an identity:
While the Lord Jesus does not expect you to bear or wear a physical cross daily as an ornament, the cross symbolizes public identification with Christ.
Bearing the cross implies not being ashamed of Christ before anybody, anywhere or anytime. It is you being a faithful witness and ambassador for Christ.
Taking up your cross daily implies readiness to propagate, promote, defend, and contend for the teachings, values, principles, or ways of Christ, notwithstanding the threat to your life or the persecution you may face.
Despite the threat to their lives, the early Disciples of Christ publicly identified with Christ, proclaiming His Lordship and propagating His teaching (Acts 4:1-21, 5:26-42).
Although Nicodemus believed in the Lord Jesus, he could not be an ardent follower or a disciple of Christ because he was unwilling to take up his cross by identifying publicly and openly with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Being a ruler of the Jews, Nicodemus came to Jesus in the night to relate with Him because he was ashamed or afraid of being associated, identified, or seen with Jesus by his friends, colleagues, or relations (John 3:1-8, 7:50).
Suppose you are also ashamed or afraid of identifying publicly and openly with Jesus Christ and His gospel anywhere, any day, or before anybody. In that case, you are not yet ready to be His disciple.
Taking up your cross daily is a mark of identity with Christ. It shows the world that you are genuinely committed to Christ and His teaching!
Sixth, the cross is a mindset:
The American Heritage Dictionary defines “mindset” as “a fixed mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person’s responses to and interpretations of situations; a habitual or characteristic mental attitude that determines how you will interpret and respond to situations; an inclination or a habit.”
In other words, you only see, interpret, and respond to situations and people based on the state of your mind.
Jesus Christ came into the world with a mindset to serve and not be served, giving His life as a sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus said to His disciples, “And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave– “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matt. 20:27-28 NKJV).
You cannot be a disciple of Christ without having the same mindset or mental attitude that Christ possessed.
Although Jesus Christ was God in every respect, He did not reckon His equality with God as something to hold unto firmly. Christ emptied Himself of His glory as God and took on the nature or form of a servant to save us.
This is the mindset expected of anyone who desires to be a disciple of Christ!
You can only follow the Lord Jesus Christ daily if you set your mind as Christ set His mind or possess the same mental disposition or attitude as His.
Therefore, Paul admonishes us to have the same mental attitude or disposition as Christ.
Philippians 2:5-8 – WNT
5 Let the same disposition be in you which was in Christ Jesus.
6 Although from the beginning He had the nature of God He did not reckon His equality with God a treasure to be tightly grasped.
7 Nay, He stripped Himself of His glory, and took on Him the nature of a bondservant by becoming a man like other men.
8 And being recognized as truly human, He humbled Himself and even stooped to die; yes, to die on a cross.
Taking up your cross daily to be an ardent follower of Jesus implies arming yourself with the same mind or mental attitude as Christ.
It means thinking like Christ, seeing things like Christ, interpreting things like Christ, and having His mental attitude, inclination, disposition, or character.
Apostle Peter also admonishes us to arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ.
1 Peter 4:1-2 – NKJV
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
The mindset of the early disciples was to please the Lord at all times, notwithstanding the cost.
They said, “Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well-pleasing to Him.” (2 Cor. 5:9 NKJV).
That was our Lord Jesus’s exact mindset when He came into the world (Heb. 10:5-7, Matt. 26:39, John 4:34).
Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38 NKJV).
“I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:30 NKJV).
It takes the mindset not to seek or do your own will but the perfect will of the Lord in every matter or situation to be a disciple of Christ.
This kind of mindset is the cross you are expected to bear daily. When you cease to have this mindset, you will seek or do your own will.
Lastly, the cross represents a lifestyle:
The natural or flesh life ends at the cross, and the supernatural or Christ-life starts at the cross (Rom. 6:1-6). Therefore, the cross marks the beginning of a new lifestyle or manner of living.
Paul testifies, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:4 NKJV).
No one can walk in the newness of life if he has not been to the cross (Gal. 2:20). Therefore, bearing the cross implies living or expressing a crucified life, which is the resurrected life. It denotes selfless living. It is living for Christ and His cause.
This is what Apostle Paul meant when he said, “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.” (2 Cor. 5:14-15 NKJV).
You cannot be a disciple of Christ if you still want to continue to live for yourself!
The cross depicts the lifestyle of a person entirely dead to himself – to his selfish desires, dreams, ambitions, or pursuits in life, but alive to Christ.
It is a lifestyle that reflects the love, wisdom, power, and glory of Christ. The cross speaks of total or unreserved dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1:8-10).
Therefore, taking up your cross daily implies letting Christ live in and through you!
This is what Paul meant by declaring, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20 NKJV).
Beloved, you cannot be a disciple of Christ if you still want to live or run your life, family, career, business, or ministry your way and by your strength, wisdom, or effort.
Bearing the cross daily is ceasing to live for yourself, to yourself, and by yourself daily, but rather for the Lord Jesus, to the Lord Jesus, and by the grace of the Lord Jesus daily.
Friend, what is your choice today?
Do you want to take up your cross daily and follow the Lord Jesus, or do you want to continue to evade the cross daily?
You need to decide today!
Prayer: My Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You for showing me what taking up my cross daily means. From this day, I pledge to cease to live for myself, to myself, and by myself. So help me, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen.