Come to the Lord

³⁷ The one who loves a father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; ^(A) the one who loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Anyone who finds his life will lose it,^(B) and anyone who loses his life because of me will find it.^(C)

²⁸ “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost^(A) to see if he has enough to complete it? ²⁹ Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹ “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. ³³ In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce^[a] all his possessions^(B) cannot be my disciple.

⁴ although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day;^(A) of the nation of Israel,^(B) of the tribe of Benjamin,^(C) a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law,^(D) a Pharisee; ⁶ regarding zeal,^(E) persecuting^(F) the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law,^(G) blameless.^(H)

⁷ But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value^(I) of knowing Christ^(J) Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ^{(K) 9} and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law,^(L) but one that is through faith in Christ^[a]—the righteousness from God based on faith.^(M)