Jesus said that anyone who wants to follow Him must carry his own cross and follow Him. What does this mean? Carrying your own cross is another way of saying you need to die to self. Jesus carried His cross when He walked on earth. The crucifixion was the end of His carrying the cross all His life. Carrying the cross means we must die to our own self will and surrender to His will. This is a daily death to self and not a one time happening. We are to identify with Christ’s death on the Cross and also His resurrection. There is no resurrection without death.
Carrying our cross is a hard requirement. Dying to self is not easy as the flesh controls all our thoughts, feelings and will. This is to do with our soul life. Our soul dictates how we live our life here on earth. However when we deny it its right then we are able to live by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit in us will help us live a crucified life. All we need to do is surrender to Him. This appears to be hard work but really is not. It is a work of faith. When we walk in the Spirit we deny the flesh its way and its control over us, and moreover the demonic realm cannot influence us. Also the world will have no effect on us. The more we walk in the Spirit the more we will be able to subdue our flesh.
God created us as a spirit being because He is Spirit. He formed us from the earth and breathed His Spirit into us. Now we can choose to walk according to His Spirit or according to the demands of our flesh. We have to make this a daily choice. Many have started well but then get distracted and fall away. We are in enemy territory and our war is in the spirit realm. We need to fight with spiritual weapons not earthly weapons. God has equipped us with all we need to wage this warfare. His Spirit helps us when we are helpless. Let us today take up our cross and follow Jesus.
