Finding Beauty in the Weight of Your Cross

By: Dorothea Weingart

"24 He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'" (Matthew 16:24)

One of the most overarching themes in this verse truly is selflessness. If you are ever too busy looking down at yourself, you will never be able to listen or look towards Jesus. Being a Christian means letting go of what you want and looking up each day, away from yourself, to walk towards Christ, trusting that you don’t know everything, and that He has a broader and more intelligent understanding of this world. 

As Jesus was carrying that cross, He had millions of complaints He could have protested, yet He humbly accepted His situation and bore the cross He was given. We are all so unique with all different situations, personalities, and pet peeves. However, we constantly like to turn towards others in comparison, to wish our lives were more like theirs. “Well maybe if I had their lifestyle I wouldn’t be so annoyed about x, y, and x.” You see, you will find so much more peace when simply accepting life for what it is. It has its joys and it has its sorrows. Trying to change those so you can live a more selfish and lazy lifestyle isn’t what Christ calls us to do. When we choose to humbly accept as Christ did, not necessarily understanding what is or will happen, HE WILL PROVIDE. Your small acts of faith and selfless yes’s means more to Him than anything. In putting in the efforts of doing these things, they help rebuild and strengthen our soul for the better. Bad things (crosses) can be brutal and they don’t come from God for He does not want to see us suffer. However, He does make good out of them and teaches us lessons through them. When we bear and surrender to the people and things in our lives, we grow closer to God and farther away from ourselves. Your journey with Christ won’t always be glamorous but every high or every low will have meaning and will have the capacity to strengthen you for the better. Stop complaining, your situation isn’t going to change. Instead of trying to remove it or make it all you talk about, quietly trust and let the radical Spirit transform your soul. 

Imaginative Prayer: Imagine this scenario from your perspective  

I am looking down at the ground. I’m barefoot and dirty carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders (aka my cross), uphill. I feel down and hopeless about my cross and all I want is to drop it to find physical comfort. I didn’t choose this cross and don’t find it fair that it is in my life. Suddenly, light shines in my peripheral vision. I look next to me and there Jesus is, holding a cross and bearing it to the best of His human abilities. The whole time He is looking up, not down in pity, and turning His head back and forth; to me and to the path ahead of us. The whole time He is struggling to hold up His own cross, He is speaking to me “(your name), keep going!” “I love you and am doing this for you, (your name)” “We are almost to the end {the light} (your name), keep near to me and all will be well when we make it up there!” “We will get through this together”

Not once does Jesus look down at Himself, like I am doing. There is a difference in mood between Jesus and I. The Father grants gifts of forgiveness and empathy to Jesus when He is looking forward, to others, and not to Himself. 

I believe that life is all about how you look at it. Of course things in life are hard and sometimes too hard to bear. I believe though, that your hardships can feel a lot lighter when looking towards the light, encouraging the people around you, and to the Father for strength. I always thought that if I followed Jesus, somehow everything in life would become easier and perfect. Or so my response to things would. Though Jesus is always there to help us bear hardships well, that doesn’t always mean we can remain faithful to Him in those times. As imperfect humans we cannot ever set standards that we will remain perfect or faithful to God in all times of our life. Simply remember though, that following Christ means helping others no matter who they are, when you too might be bearing your own cross. When looking towards Christ, He teaches you how to forget about yourself, and find the true lesson in the bearing of the cross. It truly is in giving that you receive. Give joy, receive joy. Give wisdom, receive wisdom. Give strength, receive strength. Give away Jesus’ love, receive Jesus’ love. You will only ever know until you try. Stand up, pick up the cross, and bear it well so maybe the person next to you will hurt a little less, just as Jesus lessened your pain + encouraged you when you were carrying your cross.