“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.'” Luke 9:23

In the above passage, we see that Jesus tells us what’s needed to be His disciple. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross each day and then follow Him. What does all of that mean, though?

Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis, who led the majors in home runs (53) and RBIs (138) last season, delves into that: “Growing up, I was so young in my faith, I didn’t understand what it meant to walk with Christ every day. As I got older, I realized it wasn’t about going to church or managing your sin, but about daily dying to myself and surrendering my life to Christ.”

Dying to self means sacrificing your desires for Christ’s desires. What you want, may not be what He wants—meaning that if things don’t work out the way we would like, we have to trust that God has something different and better.

First, we trust in what Christ said. Then we trust Him with what happens, that He has the ability and can make it work for His good and ours—even when we are hurt and don’t understand.