Being worthy of Christ does not seem like an achievable goal to me. How can I “earn the right” to “be entitled” to something as high and noble as Christ Himself?
I was struck with a passage today that spoke of being worthy of Christ, or on the contrary, it explained what makes us unworthy of Him. Matthew chapter 10 verses 37 – 39 talks about the importance of loving Christ above all. It simply says, “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me…” And not only does Christ mention parents, but children, as well. The people I love the most are my family members.Without a doubt, these people in my life are God’s greatest gift to me next to salvation. But Christ is saying, if you love these great things I have given to you more than you love me, then you are not worthy of me.
How drastic! He gives us things to love that are, frankly, easier to love than Him because they are right here before us in the flesh. Yet He wants us to love Him more!
The Bible makes it clear that Christ is superior to the many other fantastic things God gives us in this life – not just wrong or immoral things. Because of this, He wants us to love Him above them all, and if we don’t, we are not “worthy.” This means anything or anyone I love more than Christ is an idol in the way of my life-worship for Christ.
So I am left to ask: what idols are in my life right now? What do I cling to tighter than Christ? What or who is more exciting to me than Christ himself? Do I love Him above all things and people?
Christ finished His thought by saying, “Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.” Taking up my cross and following Him seems impossible at times. But He not only promised His “burden would be light,” but also that I would gain my life if I only dared to lose it. No one and nothing else can give me that promise, so what else is there to strive to be worthy of besides Christ?
If I have a accurate view of Christ, then being “worthy” of Him by loving Him above all things should come with minimal effort.
