3 Ways We Follow Jesus With Complete Abandon
How do we follow Jesus with complete abandon and what does it look like in daily life?
Because I’ve been following Jesus since sixteen, but I continue to desire to learn how to live it out.
And following Jesus with complete abandon means letting go of—abandoning—all other earthly treasures and idols for Jesus Himself. I follow Jesus and abandon me.
So let’s look at 3 major ways we follow Jesus with abandon and how it affects our life.
(1.) Following Jesus with Complete Abandon: Count the Cost
To come to Christ costs us nothing. But to be a true disciple of Christ costs us everything.
But nothing to everything commands a sizable leap, especially for a college freshman like me with only two years of following Jesus.
Yet, I wanted to jump into every aspect of the Christian life. Still, living on a university campus at eighteen became a whole new world. Since I desired to grow in my faith, I participated in several Christian student groups; Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU).
But I knew the basics about God and eternal life. I understood the great cost to God by sending His Son to take my place on the cross. Jesus gave His life as payment for mine.
To follow Christ with complete abandonment cost us something.
Costs like:
- Giving up going our own way.
- Laying down our personal agenda.
- Trading our kingdom come for God’s Kingdom come. Even when my way feels good or my agenda seems right, my kingdom often crumbles.
Counting the cost equals freedom. A place of completion. Giving it all for the sake of the call.
(2.) Follow Christ With a Whole Heart
Back in college, I didn’t entirely grasp the concept of being a true disciple of Christ. And I don’t now.
As we continue to follow, we more fully comprehend life as a disciple. It’s a learning process. An act of doing. A choice to follow Jesus with a whole heart—not divided by other desires that take precedence over Him.
The heart of discipleship—investing in the kingdom of heaven where the return on investment is the greatest of all.
A whole heart includes to fall in love with Jesus and stay in love with Him. It means giving all of myself to Him alone, not to the idols or shiny gods of this world. I love Christ more than anyone or anything.
Falling in love with Christ and staying in love with Him isn’t radical Christianity or even a Jesus freak. It’s the heart of a true disciple.
(3.) Follow Jesus with Complete Abandon: Carry My Cross
Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25 (ESV)
Whoa. So complete abandon is denying myself and carrying my cross. It’s more of Jesus and less of me.
Because life is not about me. Even ministry is not about me. It’s about the One who said, “Follow Me.” It’s about Jesus.
Following Jesus with complete abandon is denying myself and carrying my cross. It’s more of Jesus and less of me. Share on XThe apostle Paul described it this way:
“Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:7-8 (NASB)
And to gain Christ is the greatest reward of all.
So I’m still learning what it means to count the cost daily. And I’m asking the Lord to show me what taking up my cross and denying myself looks like in real life. I want to know. Because I want the Lord to show me as I also show others—those I disciple, mentor, or influence on and offline.
Life is not about me. Even ministry is not about me. It’s about the One who said, “Follow Me.” It’s about Jesus. Share on X
What does following Christ with complete abandon mean to you?
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Last week’s article, Hey Friend: Grace Changes Everything.
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© 2023 by Karen Friday, All rights reserved
“More of Jesus, less of me . . .”
That’s exactly how we can and do grow as true disciples of our Lord. Beautiful reflection, Karen!
Blessings!
And that’s what I want, Martha, more of Christ, less of me. I pray to learn to count the cost daily–a complete surrender. God bless.
Wonderful message, Karen. It’s not about us. It’s about God and others. Thanks and God bless!
Nancy, the enemy wants nothing more than for us to take our eyes of Jesus and turn them inward. The Lord has been showing me how it’s never been about me, it’s about Jesus and Him alone.
Thanks for another brilliant message. Now that I’m older, I focus more on Jesus but that’s not how it always was. I’m very secure in my faith and love reading posts such as yours to reinforce my commitment to Jesus.
Hey Sandra, that is so wonderful, your focus has become so much about Jesus compared to other things. I love how the Bible describes it:
“Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:7-8 (NASB)
I loved all your examples of how to follow Jesus with our whole being. It is not and will never be about us. Everything is about God.
Thanks, Yvonne. I’m asking the Lord to show me what taking up my cross and denying myself looks like in real life.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the cost of following Jesus. I don’t know that I’ll ever come to a point where I follow Him in abondon even 75% of the time, maybe even 50%. It’s so easy to be caught up in other priorities or distractions. Paul was such a great example to us: fully committed to the gospel. I pray I can be more and more like Paul.
I thinke it’s a struggle we all deal with, Stephen. Living in this world with all the things that compete for our time and thoughts. I also pray to abandon it all for the sake of the call.
I love the way you have described “counting the cost”, Karen. The stuff we give up is stuff centered around ourselves. Whoch really means nothing.
Hey Carl, so true, it’s all meaningless in light of eternal things and eternity. And to gain Christ is the greatest reward of all.
Beautiful message. I truly enjoy your heartfelt love for God. Have a blessed day!
Thank you, Melissa. I pray we want more of Jesus and less of “me.”
Such truth here: “To come to Christ costs us nothing. But to be a true disciple of Christ costs us everything.”
We must fully surrender our whole lives to him. It’s a process (and I’m still on the journey!).
It is a process and we faithfully stay on the path following Jesus. Your recent blog post reminded me of this. Seems like we’ve done that several times over the last few weeks–wrote on the same theme.
When I consider what it seems I’m giving up here and then what I’m gaining there, a clear advantage is seen. Oh, how I pray there’ll be plenty left to give to my Lord and Savior. I sometimes think of what my job will be in heaven and during His reign here on earth. I’m not sure, but I hope there’s cattle somewhere in the mix. Of course, whatever He asks me to do, I’ll do it with joy. Another encouraging and much-needed post Ms. Karen.
I’m sure there are cattle on a thousand hills in your future heavenly position. Until then, we continue to follow in complete abandon while we joyfully count the cost. God bless.
So beautifully said and a wonderful reminder, Karen. Shared this on Twitter and shared by email as well.
Thank you, Pam, and for visiting. I appreciate you. “Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:7-8 (NASB)
Karen, following Jesus may change in our activities, but may our hearts always be in pursuit of deeper intimacy with Him. I’m discovering that following Him looks different at this point in my life than it did when I was younger. Thank you for the emphasis on being a disciple.
I couldn’t agree more with that, Jeanne. It looks different for me at this time of my life. I so want to love Jesus more and more every day. Falling in love with Christ and staying in love with Him isn’t radical Christianity or even a Jesus freak. It’s the heart of a true disciple.
“….and count them as rubbish.” How I can put value in the wrong things! Our faith is a continual journey of God drawing us to Him wherever we are at, isn’t it?
It is that, Lynn. It’s so easy in this world to be distracted by earthly things that have no eternal value. Lord, help us follow you with complete abandon.
This is so good—so countercultural. Somehow we think that there’s a narrow way, a cross to carry that won’t be inconvenient…
Yes. The truth is, the narrow way is never easy, but hard; never convenient, but uncomfortable most of the time.
[…] Last week we looked at 3 Ways We Follow Jesus With Complete Abandon. […]
Beautiful post, Karen. You brought down to a simple prayer: More of Jesus, less of me. This post brought to mind a favorite song – For the Sake of the Call by Steven Curtis Chapman. I had to stop to listen to it 🙂 May we be wholly devoted to live for the sake of His call. Blessings!
Oh, Joanne, I remember that song. I’ve always liked Steven Curtis Chapman. Yes, Lord, more of You and less of me!