Luke 8: 19-21
Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd. Someone told him, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you." He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice."
Obedience to The LORD is the most integral part of you towards your Christformation. If you do not obey Him personally, there will be no Christformation in you. Obedience to all that Christ our Lord had commanded is more important than anything else in this world. You may do 'lip-service' to people around you, just to please their wishes but you cannot do the same to the LORD. When someone wants to see you disobeying The LORD, you should choose to obey Christ and everything He has commanded and not them or their foolish wants, no matter who they are or claim to be in this world. If you do just 'lip-service' to the LORD, there won't be any Christformation in you in the end. You can go on fooling man and get away with it, but you can never fool the LORD, your God. It's you who will be in the losing end, if you try to fool your LORD God. Remember, God the Holy Spirit who dwells in you knows it when you try to fool God. You can never fool God. It's easier to fool man because they are as sinful as you but not God. He is holy and righteous. He is just and fair to everyone. He knows everything that takes place on this Earth. You may think that He doesn't but He does. You may ask, why then does evil go on. Evil goes on this Earth because evil men and women prefer to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in them than obey everything Christ had commanded. Obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in them gives them all the evil pleasures,lust, evil passions and desires. These eventually would destroy them and they do not know it. They continue in these pleasures to their eventual destruction.
Many of us are confused with the marked differences of having to love, honor and obey. We love God and love men, we honor our parents, but we obey The LORD. When these three are mixed-up, we have what we see today. People mistake honor for obedience and love for honor. The only two that go along is love and obey. We must love and obey The LORD. We must love our fellow man at the same time, but not necessarily obey them, especially if they are still obeying the sinful nature of the Devil themselves. What happens when we obey such men and women? We will start disobeying The LORD and that's very dangerous for our relationship with the LORD. Never disobey The LORD at any costs, even if it means having to lose relationships of people who choose to obey the sinful nature of the Devil in them, instead of obeying The LORD and everything Christ had commanded. "Carrying the cross" means painfully having to hate the sinful nature of the Devil in you and others, no matter who they are to you. If they choose to keep on obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in them even after many warnings, no matter who they are to you, keep away from them. If you mingle with them, you will start disobeying The LORD by obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in you too!"My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice". We should keep echoing what the Lord Jesus Christ said about this till the end and not give in to anyone who keeps displeasing Him. They may demand their way with you, but you should order them strictly to go away from you until they start obeying everything Christ had commanded. It's about obedience to The LORD. Don't give what is sacred to dogs. They won't know how to appreciate it. Don't throw pearls to swine. They won't know the difference! Don't give to dogs and swines. Just ignore them!
Yes, you are terribly right! If you know that you should keep away from somebody who is in the habit of obeying the sinful nature of the Devil in them and you deliberately don't, you actually are sinning against The LORD.You should keep away from such men and women.That's the best thing you could do to them, to make them realize what they have been continually doing, even now, without any repentance or remorse of their transgressions against the LORD. You see, the sinful nature of the Devil in us is our greatest enemy within and if we do not fight it and win, how can we be a disciple of Jesus Christ our Lord? You may have overcome the sinful nature of the Devil in you or be in pursuit of defeating it completely, but the Devil may stir the sinful nature of someone else in your family to disrupt your victory. What do you do? Just because they are your loved family members, do you give in and admit defeat to the Devil? No, you shouldn't! You should fight it, too. That's when this word "hate" comes in. You cannot give in to them! You have to "hate" the sinful nature of the Devil in you or in others at all costs, with the same 'fierce fire' in you and win the battle triumphantly like how the Lord Jesus Christ did. He did not sin at all, even at His death on the cross. That's why the cross is a symbol of His power to overcome the sinful nature of the Devil in you.
Luke 14:26-27
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
