As Christians each of us was taught the story of Jesus carrying the Cross to Calvary. It was a burden. It was difficult. It was agonizing. It preceded horrific suffering and death for Him.
In that context, if you are like me, we think about carrying our own crosses. For me, it was and is polio. Paralysis. Grieving over the things I could not do after polio. Carry my kids and grandkids on my shoulders. Play golf, tennis, football or basketball. In my calling as a Collaborative Attorney, I witness husbands and wives and their kids carrying the cross of divorce.
There were three crosses at Calvary. For humankind the number of crosses we each bear are limitless. Cancer. Covid-19. The death of loved ones. Getting our hearts broken as we watch our kids and grandkids suffer loss, get into trouble, or make messes for themselves and others. Finally, having to give up on life-long dreams, just to name a few.
In a different context what Jesus carried was not just the cross. What He carried from the beginning until the very end of His life was His Father’s Love for Him and for us and our salvation.
God’s Love is our cross to bear too. To think about others more than ourselves. To sacrifice our own needs and comfort in compassion and service to others. To forgive others as we were and are forgiven by God. Because God’s Love was Christ’s Cross to bear as well as ours.
God has spoken in Scripture as to what carrying the Cross means to us.
Luke 9:23-25
Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
Let us pray together.
God, in prayer may we recognize that Your Love is our cross to bear.
May we each be strengthened to carry the burden of doing, saying, acting, living and loving others as You have loved us.
May we each know by faith that we will be rewarded in Your time in the manner we bear the cross of Your love for us. That we will be raised up on our last day on Earth just as Your Son, Jesus Christ, was lifted up into Your arms forever and ever in His sacrifice for all humankind. Amen
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If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.
Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.