Love

[OnlyHis]

The bible says to love our enemies and to it also says to honor our parents. But Jesus also says if you do not hate your father, your mother, or even your own life you CANNOT be my disciple. Can someone give me some clarity on that. I don't want family to be my idol. How can I balance the priorities??

 

[St_Worm2]

The bible says to love our enemies and to it also says to honor our parents. But Jesus also says if you do not hate your father, your mother, or even your own life you CANNOT be my disciple. Can someone give me some clarity on that. I don't want family to be my idol. How can I balance the priorities??

I think Matthew 10:37 holds the key to understanding what Jesus is actually trying to convey in the more difficult verse that you were quoting from, Luke 14:26. Here they are together:

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" Luke 14:26

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me" Matthew 10:37
​

Jesus calls us to be so wholly devoted to Him that our attachment to anything else (our spouse, our children, even our very lives) should seem like hatred by comparison.

Hope that helps!

Yours and His,
David

 

[Adrian Z]

I remember a pastor saying, that hate, if translated back, means love less.
If you don't love your mother, father, and siblings less than Christ, you cannot enter the Kingdom. Love Christ with all your heart, mind, and strength. And you're good.