Jesus said, "Whoever comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple" (v. 26). 

Let's admit it. Jesus made some strange comments. This scripture for today remembers one of those times. Must we really hate our mother and father in order to be Christian? I thought Christians were to promote family values. Must we really hate our own lives in order to be faithful? Doesn't the Bible promote the abundance of life? Is that not contrary to hating our life? How are we to make sense of this?

 

Maybe we are not to make sense of it. Perhaps we are simply to obey by doing what we are told. Some claim that regardless of what seems reasonable, every word of the Bible is to be taken literally. This might be on…