Jesus Demands Self-denial

“And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.'” Luke 9:23 (NASB)
The call to follow Jesus is a demand for daily self-denial. Jesus’ call is to a sacrificial way of living. It is a summons to a continuous denial of self-centeredness. The call to follow Him is not just a one-time commitment to Christ in a moment and its all over. Christ’s summons to discipleship is a call to begin living the Christlike way of life everyday. To take up your cross daily.
Jesus has called us to a way of life that demands sacrificial living, and when we begin to realize that the cross is supposed to be a way of life, it is even more offensive to us today than it was to the people of Jesus’ day. Few of us really live a sacrificial kind of life. But Jesus has called and commanded us to the cross-like way of life. He has called us to a different way of living. It is a call to live sacrificially in ministry for Him.