Luke 14:25-33 NIV
(25) Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: (26) "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. (27) And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (28) "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? (29) For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, (30) saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' (31) "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (32) If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. (33) In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
OK, so does Jesus really want us to hate our family? Not really, but if you are so dependent on your family that you can't give them up if necessary to follow Jesus, then you can't really follow Him. Before we give ourselves completely to Him, we must realize that there will be consequences for our decision. We might give up coolness, or friends, or activities, or money, or stuff in order to follow Him.
More C.S. Lewis:
"The Christian way is different: harder, and easier. Christ says, "Give me All. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don't want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked - the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, i will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours."
Both harder and easier than what we are all trying to do. You have noticed, I expect, that Christ Himself sometimes describes the Christian way as very hard, sometimes as very easy. he says, "Take up your Cross" -- in other words, it is like going to be beaten to death in a concentration camp. Next minute he says, "My yoke is easy and my burden light." He means both. And one can just see why both are true."
- from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
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