"...following Jesus is costly. The costs of not following, however, are eternal." (Craig S. Keener)
Putting Christ first in our lives may cost us misunderstandings with friends and the loss of relationships with them over those misunderstandings.
Putting Christ first may mean loss of social acceptability, the loss of jobs or income.
It may, sometimes, even cost us our earthly lives, as many Christians over the past one-hundred years or so have found. (More Christians were martyred for their faith in the twentieth century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined.)
But, by the grace of God given in Christ, may we learn to say with the apostle Paul: "I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).
