For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. Mark 16:25
Give it up
Give up your ideas
Give up your ideals
Give up your wants, your desires,
the things in this life you believe are due to you
Give them up
Give up your very life
Place all things important to you in the Father’s hands
Don’t hold onto anything in this life,
whether it is things
Or jobs
Or notoriety
Even respect, your good name,
Give them up
Labour not for the meat which perisheth,
but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life,
which the Son of man shall give unto you:
for him hath God the Father sealed. John 6:27
In other words, don’t apply yourself to retain your honor
or whatever else it is on earth you may be holding onto,
Glorify Jesus in all you do
and let Him be the recipient of your efforts
People?
Give them to God
People can interfere in your relationship with God
If they do,
Cut them off
What if they are children?
or spouses?
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me:
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:37
And if your right hand causes you to sin,
cut it off and cast it from you;
for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish,
than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Matthew 5:30
Compromise will get you nowhere with God,
it will do nothing but cause you to grow farther away from God:
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot:
I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot,
I will spue thee out of my mouth. Revelation 3:15-16
Remember Lot’s wife. Luke 17:32
Walk away
Let them be
Leave them behind and follow God
Worry not about your loved ones
Have faith
God will take care of them
If we let our light grow dim for any person,
or any other earthly desire,
and allow ourselves to push aside Jesus,
how can we then be called His disciples?
We are no better than those who have chosen the world
Ye are the light of the world.
A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5:14
We, in and of ourselves, cannot save anyone
We walk with Jesus and we can ask Him
but there is nothing we do that can bring someone else to Christ
Yes, being obedient to Him is good,
but obedience without Him asking us is not exactly obedience
While His word gives us many commands,
Without Him, we can do nothing,
our efforts will be fruitless
if the Holy Spirit is not leading us
and guiding us and working in us and through us
I am the vine, ye are the branches:
He that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit:
for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5
Pray that the Holy Spirit draw
those you are vested in to Himself
Getting caught up in their struggles in an earthly sense
will do no good
Listen and obey and if Jesus asks you
the hard thing of giving them up,
if you give them up to Him,
how can you go wrong?
Aren’t His hands the most secure place you can think of?
Remember the rich man
who could not leave his riches to follow Christ?
Jesus loved him
That he chose his riches hurt Jesus greatly (Mark 10:22)
And every one that hath forsaken houses,
or brethren,
or sisters,
or father,
or mother,
or wife,
or children,
or lands,
for my name’s sake,
shall receive an hundredfold,
and shall inherit everlasting life. Matthew 19:29