Matthew 10:38

Matthew 10:38 He that taketh not his cross. Luke adds, "daily" (Luke 9:23); not once, but all the time. The cross is the pain of the "self-denial" required. The cross is the "symbol of doing our duty, even at the cost of the most painful death". Christ obeyed God, and carried out his work of the salvation of men, though it required him to die upon the cross in order to do it. And ever since, the cross has stood as the emblem, not of suffering, but of suffering for the sake of Christ and his gospel. And followeth me. To follow Christ is to take him for our master, our teacher, our example; to believe his doctrines, to uphold his cause, to obey his precepts, and to do it though it leads to heaven by the way of the cross.