What does this verse mean?

[lettheredeemedsayso]

What do you think this verse means? I am relatively sure I know what it means but I would like to hear what you have to say.


26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

[joyfulpraise93]

Our love for Christ should be sooo great that in comparison to our love for others...our love for others should seem like hatred. Such should be the magnitude of our love for Him.

Basically just saying that He is to be first and foremost in our hearts. He is to own the throne of our life.

[Jerry]

I agree - Jesus is to have the preeminence in our lives, so much so that our love to others seems dim in comparison. If we had to choose between love for the Lord and love for our families, etc., then the Lord is to be the absolute first in all situations.

[bibletotingunslinger]

May , ,,, I ,,say something????
If we love the family of man, (Our own) more than the family of God,, we are not looking in the right place. I think "to love less" may be a way to understand it better in our culture.

HATE mis-eh'-o

from a primary misos (hatred); to detest (especially to persecute); by extension, to love less:--hate(-ful).

Luke 8:21
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Matthew 8:21
And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Matthew 8:22
But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
Matthew 22:30
For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Am I making any sense? :redx:
I should also not, when I started typing this no one else had replied to this post, Please forgive me if I have duplicated another's words.

[Psalms18_28]

it means put God first. Afterall, he is the creator of everything. If it wasn't for him, you would have never got a chance to met or know your family.

[chev1958]

To stir the pot just a little: Why, then, do we say a pastor's family comes before his ministry? If a man is truly called to preach and his wife is not willing to go, does he go anyway?

[Will]

To stir the pot just a little: Why, then, do we say a pastor's family comes before his ministry? If a man is truly called to preach and his wife is not willing to go, does he go anyway?

A man's first ministry is to his family. If he cannot rule his family, he cannot be a minister of the Gospel. One is a full-time husband and father before they are a full-time preacher.

[JJJ4given]

What do you think this verse means? I am relatively sure I know what it means but I would like to hear what you have to say.


26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.

hy·per·bo·le /haɪ

[UrbanChristian]

To stir the pot just a little: Why, then, do we say a pastor's family comes before his ministry? If a man is truly called to preach and his wife is not willing to go, does he go anyway?

To say the same thing Will said in a slightly different way, a man's family is a part of his ministry. If his wife and children all go contrary to God, the man's ministry is much less effective, if effective at all. This is why it is so important for a man to marry the woman that God has for him.

[lettheredeemedsayso]

Thank you

I agree

[manofconviction]

Good thread, great question. Agreed interesting how the various posts further refine each other. To add my :2cents I would say that if a man's family situation isn't in order, he will be pulled by competing circumstances and open his ministry to "appearances" of evil and be of no positive effect. :thumb