What Does It Mean To Take Up Your Cross?

Have you ever come across a verse in Scripture that made you pause and wonder, “What exactly did Jesus mean by this?”

I have, too.

Often, I’ve found myself asking this question while studying Luke 9:23, which reads: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me’” (emphasis added).

What does it mean to take up your cross?

Crucifixion is no longer a practiced form of punishment today (and I am so grateful it is not!). But when we read this passage from a modern perspective, the cultural reference may be lost on us. So then, how do we take up our cross today?

Lose Your Life

In the first-century Roman Empire, death by crucifixion was reserved for serious offenders of the law. It was a death sentence meant to bring shame and humility to the vilest of criminals. When Jesus instructs His followers to “take up your cross,” I can imagine shock rippling through the crowd. Why would He want them to bring shame and humility upon themselves?

Jesus follows His command with this: “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it” (Luke 9:24).

Jesus warns us against living for this world, for our own pleasures, and for our own sense of entitlement. Our sense of entitlement often includes what we think we deserve, for example: comfort, quality “me-time,” sleep, etc. But Jesus calls us to be willing to deny ourselves these “rights” and instead trust that what Jesus has for us is better. He calls us to love His name more than our own name—to be willing to face shame in this world because we know our sufferings today don’t compare to the glory that’s coming (Romans 8:18). A life following Christ is death now, resurrection later; humility now, glory to come.

This is what Jesus models with His own life. Jesus’s call to take up our crosses comes immediately after He foretells His own suffering (Luke 9:22). Soon, He will be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes. The people who are supposed to be closest to God will humiliate and kill God’s only Son. Jesus will carry a criminal’s cross upon His back, though He is guilty of no crime. In this we are reminded that Jesus does not call us to a road that He has not already walked Himself. And as Jesus takes up His cross, He commands us to follow.

Take Up Your Cross Every Day

But what does this look like in our everyday lives? Author, speaker, and missionary, Elisabeth Elliot helps us to understand the practicality of taking up our crosses when she says, “The taking up of the cross is no great action done once for all, but the continual practice of small duties which are distasteful to us.”

In her book, The Music of His Promises, Elliot writes, “The “Cross” is every single thing, large or small, important in my eyes or trivial, in which the will of God cuts across my will—or my hopes, my preferences, my temperament, my tastes, my harmless whims.”

Eliot makes “take up your cross” incredibly practical. It’s changing a diaper in the middle of the night when you’d rather ask your spouse to do it. It’s giving the last slice of your favorite cake to someone else. It’s hosting a playdate when you know the kids will destroy your house. It’s being a listening ear, even when you don’t have much time. It’s apologizing when you don’t feel like it. It’s extending forgiveness, even though it’s undeserved. It’s taking on the task that no one wants to do. It’s letting someone ahead of you in line. It’s any small decision where you decide to put yourself second.

In doing so, you demonstrate the gospel—not just with your words, but with your actions. And praise be to God that you are not the first trailblazer of this journey! Jesus did not command anything He wouldn’t do first. Jesus’s entire life—from His birth in a manger, to His death on a Cross—demonstrates humble submission to the Father. He did not live for His own pleasure, He lived to please God. Though He is King of kings, He humbled Himself to the form of a servant and washed His disciples' feet. Though He is Lord of lords, He was mocked, beaten, and suffered on our behalf. Though He deserves all glory, He suffered shame and public disgrace—all to set us free from sin and to secure our belonging into the family of God.

We did nothing to deserve this grace. We could never be “good enough” to earn His love. It’s a free gift. All He desires from us is obedience—obedience that is for our good. As we deny ourselves today, we are promised a glorious tomorrow in heaven. Therefore, because we know Jesus is with us now and there is better to come, we put aside our preferences now in exchange for an eternity of peace to come.

The way of Jesus is not easy—the very nature of taking up our crosses is counter to the desires of our flesh. If it feels hard, that’s because it is. Yet we are not alone. In this journey of self-denial, we learn to live daily by the Lord’s strength. We pray desperately for wisdom, becoming more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and relying on God’s Word to guide us. In the difficulty of denying ourselves, we are brought to depend upon the Lord for our joy and contentment. Yes, in denying ourselves, we get more of Jesus. And that is worth living for.

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