2 Peter 1:8
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
All over the world the cry is the same. Why is all my effort to reduce sin futile? The answer is plain simple. We cannot strive in our own strength. We all tried to do this at one time or another, but we failed miserably! We should never strive in our own strength. We will fail miserably. It's pitiful to see others struggling with the urges and evil desires of the sinful nature of the Devil within them. They seem like they will never be freed from it. Neither will they take heed, even if they are told how to. Personal pride comes in their way and blocks them from learning through the experiences of other. They insist on striving with their own strength. What can we say or do more for them, if they have chosen the pathway of destruction by continually being blind and deaf to the experiences of others. They cannot stretch their dull minds to think beyond their own stubbornness and rebellious pride. They persists in their ignorance while blindly claiming that they already know the solutions to their problems, when they don't. How can you help such foolishness? They know deep down inside their hearts and consciences that whatever effort they had put thus far has been ineffective and unproductive. But, what do they do? They keep trying with those ineffective and unproductive ways and efforts. What a conscious waste of effort, time and resources?
Luke 9:23-27
Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self ? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
If any man or woman wants to follow Christ till the end, he or she must first of all empty himself or herself of all the misdeeds of the sinful nature of the Devil in him or her and start filling their born again spirits with the divine nature of Christ. The divine nature of Christ is formed in you, only when you obey everything Christ had commanded. Picking up the cross of Christ is the same as allowing the divine nature of Christ to be formed in you. How do you allow that to occur in you? By obeying the leading and guidance of God the Holy Spirit within you, after you have believed in Him. That is exactly what you mean by "following Him" till the end. The cross of Christ depicts the full divine nature of Christ.
