And he called the people and his disciples to him and said to them, "If anyone wants to go with me, he must disregard himself, and take his cross and follow me.

And Jesus looked at him and loved him, and he said to him, "There is one thing that you lack. Go, sell all you have, and give the money to the poor, and then you will have riches in heaven; and come back and be a follower of mine."

And they forced a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross??ne Simon, a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus.

and he went out carrying the cross by himself to a spot called the Place of the Skull, or in Hebrew, Golgotha.

But everyone who wants to live a godly life as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Cannot

but it takes no real root in him, and lasts only a little while, and when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, he gives it up at once.

reassuring the disciples and encouraging them to stand by the faith and reminding them that we have to undergo many hardships to get into the Kingdom of God.

This is why I am suffering as I am, but I am not ashamed of it, for I know whom I have trusted and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have intrusted to him for that Day.

General references

and no one who will not take up his cross and follow me is worthy of me.

Another said, 'I have married, and so I cannot come.'