If you love father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine;
or if you love son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. Matthew 10: 37
Next verse:
If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.
From these two verses, I can gather that God requires all our love and devotion, our entire life. The first thing God asks of us is to love Him. Jesus commands our emotions to Him, the Only True God, and to Him alone.
And you must love Him with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. --Jesus
( Mark 12:30 )
We should love God with our toes, love God with our arms, love God with our goosebumps, and love Him with our sweat, muscles, and endurance.
Sin .. .. will cool the love of many, But those enduring to the end shall be saved.
-- Matthew 24:12-13
The kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure lying in a field. The man who found it, buried it again, and for sheer joy, went and sold everything he had, and bought that field.
---Matthew 13:44 New English Bible
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. I Corinthians 11: 27
Do you cherish the cross?
God will give you the love; He will give you the love to love Him.
Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Luke 12: 32
