Mark 8:34-38

34 Then he called his disciples and the crowds to come over and listen. "If any of you wants to be my follower," he told them, "you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. 
35 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life. 
36 And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? 
37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 
38 If a person is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in the glory of my Father with the holy angels." 
(NLT)

To be a Christ follower we must deny ourselves, we must stop being selfish and start being selfless. Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and we are to follow Christ's example. When you live your life for yourself you will lose it. Your life will be of no worth or meaningless. But a life lived for Christ has meaning and purpose. In living for Christ you will find true life and life more abundant. Ask yourself these questions that Jesus asked the crowd: do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Answer, no you do not benefit. You can only benefit from the one who created you and gave you life. Is anything worth more than your soul? No. You are a child of the living God, you belong to Him and He knows that you are valuable to Him.
Verse 38 is a verse we must think about. Are we ashamed to be called a follower of Christ? Are we ashamed of the Gospel? If we shy away from sharing the Gospel how do you think this makes Christ feel? Has He not done great things in your life? We are to be proud to be called His children regardless of what others say. This is not a selfish pride but one of honor and respect to our God and King. Therefore we need to speak out and speak the truth of Christ. Christ gave His all for us so then should we not give our all to Him? Yes, yes we should.
We can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens us.

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