Take Up Your Cross

Then Jesus said to his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it.

St. Matthew 16:24-25

Some may ask why? Why should I take up my Cross? The answer is to gain eternal life in heaven rather than hell and this advice follows immediately in 16:26 of The Gospel of Saint Matthew:

For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?

Others may then ask how? How can I do this? What must I do? Each must look to his own weakness and sin. What is it that keeps me from following Jesus…