18 Bible Verses about Challenges

Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny self [i.e., of always having its own way] and lift up his cross [of responsibility] and [then he can] become my follower. For whoever would [try to] save his life [i.e., by neglecting spiritual things] will lose it [i.e., miss out on the blessings of God]. But whoever [is willing to] lose his life [i.e., in commitment to God's service] for my sake will find it [i.e., obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings]. For what benefit is it to a person if he gains the whole world [of material things] but [has to] give up his life [i.e., all the spiritual blessings]? Or what should a person give in exchange for his life?

And He called the crowd to Him, along with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny himself [i.e., of always having his own way] and accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities, with all their difficulties] and then he can become my follower. For whoever would [try to] save his life [i.e., by neglecting spiritual things] will lose it [i.e., miss out on the blessings of God]. But whoever [is willing] to lose his life [i.e., in commitment to God's service] for my sake and [the work of] the Gospel's sake, will save it [i.e., obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings]. For what would it benefit a person to gain the whole world [i.e., of material things] and give up his life [i.e., of spiritual blessings]?

Then He said to everyone, "If anyone wants to be my follower, he should deny self [i.e., of always having its own way] and accept his cross [i.e., his responsibilities, with all their difficulties] everyday, and [then he can] become my follower. For whoever would [try to] save his life [i.e., by neglecting spiritual things] will lose it [i.e., miss out on the blessings of God]. But whoever [willingly] loses his life [i.e., in commitment to God's service] for my sake, that person will save it [i.e., obtain both temporal and spiritual blessings]. For what is a person benefited if he gains the whole world [i.e., of material things] and [yet] loses [his spiritual life] or gives himself up [to spiritual ruin]?

Jesus replied, "If you want to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give [the money] to poor people; then become my follower and you will have treasure in heaven."

And Jesus looked at him, and filled with love, said to him, "There is one thing you [still] lack. Go and sell your possessions and give [the money] to poor people; become my follower, then you will have treasure in heaven."

When Jesus heard this He said to him, " [There is] one thing you still lack. Sell all your possessions and distribute [the money] to poor people; become my follower, [then] you will have treasure in heaven."

And as they were going along the road, a certain man [i.e., an expert in the law of Moses. See Matt. 8:19] said to Him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied to him, "The foxes have dens [in which to live] and the birds of the sky have nests [in which to roost], but the Son of man does not have anywhere to lay His head." And [then] He said to another person, "Become my follower." But he replied, "Lord, allow me to go and bury my father first."read more.
But Jesus replied to him, "Let the [spiritually] dead bury their own dead [i.e., let them care for their family members until they die], but you go and proclaim the [coming] kingdom of God." Then another person said [to Jesus], "Lord, I will become your follower, but first let me say goodbye to my family." [Note: There was the likelihood that family members might try to dissuade him from his commitment to follow the Lord]. But Jesus said to him, "Nobody who begins plowing [a field] and then looks back [i.e., in regret for beginning such an arduous task] is suited for [serving in] the kingdom of God."

[While there] an expert in the law of Moses said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied to him, "The foxes have dens [in which to live] and the birds of the sky have nests [in which to roost]; but the Son of man does not have anywhere to lay His head." Then another one of His disciples said to Him, "Allow me to go and bury my father first."read more.
But Jesus answered him, "Become my follower, and let the [spiritually] dead bury them" [i.e., let a person's relatives care for their own family members until they die].

Then Jesus asked him a third time, "Simon, son of John, do you [truly] love me?" Peter was sad because Jesus had asked him a third time, "Do you [even] love me?" So, he said to Jesus, "Lord, you know all things. You [surely] know that I love you." Jesus replied to him, "[Then] feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I tell you [Peter], when you were young you used to fasten your belt around you [i.e., to get ready] and travel wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you [away] to where you do not want to go." Now Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death Peter would experience in honoring God. [Note: Some see the "stretching out your hands," verse 18, as a reference to crucifixion]. And after saying this, Jesus said to him, "Be my follower."

Pay attention to yourselves! "If your brother sins, rebuke him [i.e., show him where he is wrong in hope of effecting a change]; and if he repents [i.e., changes his heart and life], forgive him.

You should let the message of Christ live in you abundantly [i.e., as individuals and collectively]. Use [much] wisdom in teaching and warning one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing with favor [i.e., with thankfulness] in your hearts toward God.

And we urge you, brothers, to warn those who are idle [Note: The word "idle" originally meant, "insubordinate, or unruly." See II Thess. 3:6-7, 11], encourage those who are timid, help the [spiritually] weak and be patient with everyone.

And if any person does not obey our instructions, [given] in this letter, you should take note of him so that you do not associate with him, in hope that he will become ashamed [of his conduct]. And yet do not consider him to be an enemy, but warn him as [you would] a [Christian] brother.

Preach the [Gospel] message; be prepared [to do it both] when it is convenient and when it is inconvenient; reprove [i.e., convince people of their wrongdoing], rebuke [i.e., convict people of their sin], and exhort [i.e., urge people to act], with great patience and teaching.

You should teach these things and exhort and rebuke people with full authority. Do not let anyone look down on you. [See note on I Tim. 4:12].

After you have warned a divisive person twice, have nothing more to do with him [i.e., withdraw spiritual fellowship from him].

But Peter said to Ananias, "Why has Satan filled your heart [causing you] to deceive the Holy Spirit by keeping back part of the selling price of the land [while representing it as the full price]? While you owned it, was it not yours? Then after you sold it, did you not [still] have control over [what you did with] the money? Why did you decide in your heart to do such a thing? You [really] have not lied to men, but to God [about this matter]."

But when Cephas came to Antioch [of Syria], I confronted him personally [about a matter] for which he deserved to be condemned. For, before certain [leaders] came from James [i.e., Jesus' brother, a leader of the Jerusalem church, See Acts 12:17; 15:13-22], he had eaten [a social meal] with some Gentiles. But when these men came, he abruptly discontinued this practice out of fear of the circumcised ones [i.e., out of concern for what the Jews would think of him]. Then the rest of the Jews also discontinued [eating with Gentiles] along with Peter, until even Barnabas was influenced to go along with this hypocritical practice.read more.
But, when I saw that they did not act in harmony with [the principles of] the truth of the Gospel [message], I said to Cephas in front of everyone, "If you, being a Jew, act like a Gentile [by showing such discrimination], how do you expect to persuade Gentiles to live like Jews [i.e., like Christian Jews who are taught to love all people]?"