Matthew 16:24-26 (ESV) 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
Romans 6:3-4 (ESV) 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Philippians 1:21-23 (ESV) 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
Is the object of life to live? No, it is not to live but to die! And not only to hew the cross but to mount it. And to give all that we have, laughing!—Paul Claudel
Quoted in "Reflections," Christianity Today, Vol. 44, no. 12, (10-23-00).Today's Best Illustrations – Volume 5, (Carol Stream, IL: Christianity Today, 1997), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "CROSS-BEARING".
