Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke
At that time,
large crowds were traveling with Jesus;
He turned around and said to them:
«"If someone comes to me
without preferring myself to his father, his mother, his wife,
his children, his brothers and sisters,
and even to his own life,
He cannot be my disciple.
He who does not carry his cross
to walk in my wake
cannot be my disciple.
Which one of you
who, wanting to build a tower,
don't start by sitting down
to calculate the expense
And see if he has what it takes to go all the way?
Because, if he ever lays the foundations
and is unable to complete,
Everyone who sees him will laugh at him:
“Here is a man who has begun to build
and was unable to finish!”
And who is the king?
who, going to war against another king,
don't start by sitting down
to see if he can, with ten thousand men,
To confront the other who marches against him with twenty thousand?
If he cannot,
He sends it while the other is still far away.,
a delegation to demand conditions for peace.
Therefore, whoever among you does not renounce
to everything that belongs to him
cannot be my disciple.»
– Let us acclaim the Word of God.
Giving up in order to follow: building one's life on evangelical dispossession
Why Jesus' demand for inner detachment opens a path to true freedom and inner fruitfulness.
This reading from the Gospel of Luke (14:25-33) is addressed to those seeking coherence between faith and daily life, between the radical nature of Jesus' words and the tenderness of his call. To be a disciple of Christ is to consent to an inner transformation: to prefer nothing to Him, even to the point of re-evaluating our relationships, our possessions, and our plans. This requirement, far from being a rejection of the world, reveals a dynamic of love freed from the need for possession. This article proposes a gradual approach to understanding, embracing, and living this renunciation as a source of joy.
- Gospel context and scope of the passage
- Analysis of the disciple's threefold requirement
- Three key areas for understanding evangelical renunciation
- Practical applications in everyday life
- Scriptural and spiritual resonances
- Meditation and practical application exercises
- Contemporary challenges and a shift in perspective
- Prayer of trust and surrender
- Conclusion and simple commitments to make
The shock of renunciation: putting words back into context
The Gospel of Luke often presents Jesus on a journey. The setting of chapter 14 is significant: crowds follow Jesus, captivated by his words and signs. Yet, far from encouraging superficial enthusiasm, he confronts them with the truth of the path. Being a disciple is not about admiring him, but about following him to the end. The tone is abrupt: «If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother… he cannot be my disciple.» This language is disconcerting, especially in a culture attached to family, blood ties, and material security.
This logical reversal reveals the immense stakes: Jesus doesn't want fragile allegiances but free hearts. The two parables that follow—that of the builder and that of the king—show the importance of discernment before committing. Being a Christian is not an emotion, but a construction that requires solid foundations. The disciple is the one who "calculates the cost," not out of timidity, but out of loving clarity: he understands that following Christ means giving everything.
In biblical culture, renunciation is not the same as contempt. Rather, it is about ordering: placing each attachment in its proper place. The radical nature of the Gospel does not destroy human love; it illuminates it. Christ does not ask us to abandon our loved ones, but to no longer possess them. He does not demand that we despise our possessions, but that we become masters of them so that we may use them in service.
Luke is addressing a community already facing the tensions of choice: how to remain faithful in the face of the Jewish family that rejects the new faith, in the face of the economic and social constraints of the Empire? This passage therefore invites us to redefine fidelity as a shift in the center of gravity: no longer oneself, but Christ.
Being a disciple in truth: understanding the images of Jesus
Jesus uses two everyday images—building a tower and going to war—to illustrate the coherence between intention and duration. The imprudent builder symbolizes the enthusiastic but unpersevering believer; he lays a foundation without considering the cost. The ill-prepared king evokes the one who embarks on the spiritual life without recognizing his true strength. These parables denounce the illusion of a superficial faith.
But this passage goes further: it unites discernment and renunciation. True poverty is not endured, it is chosen. Jesus asks us to "take up our cross," a typical expression in Luke, evoking fidelity even in suffering. The cross here is not merely an instrument of death, but a way of life: accepting loss in order to love more.
To understand this radical sobriety, it must be linked to the teachings of Wisdom. In the Bible, renunciation is an inner exodus: leaving illusions behind to enter into truth. Like Abraham leaving his land, the disciple relinquishes the securities of possession, recognition, and control. Christ calls for a life-giving relationship where dependence becomes freedom, because it is founded not on fear, but on trust.
The passage culminates in this concise statement: «He who does not renounce all that belongs to him cannot be my disciple.» This absolute formula does not exclude, it guides. It redefines ownership: what is mine is given to me to serve. True detachment is internal: it liberates love from all control.
Renunciation, a school of freedom
To renounce is to free oneself. In a society obsessed with possession—of goods, images, status—the Gospel proposes another way of life: receiving rather than possessing, sharing rather than accumulating. This detachment does not destroy the personality; it reveals what is essential.
Christian freedom does not consist in being able to do anything, but in no longer being a slave to anything. By renouncing, the disciple experiences lightness of heart. The world promises security through control; Jesus offers peace through trust. Yet trust requires letting go. The disciple's journey thus becomes a school of progressive stripping away: abandoning false securities to become rooted in the faithfulness of Christ.
Discernment, the architecture of renunciation
Jesus does not encourage spiritual improvisation. «Sitting down to calculate the cost» describes the wisdom of the heart. This implies recognizing one's limitations and not making commitments lightly. Discernment is not a hindrance but the condition for faithfulness.
In the spiritual life, many begin without grounding themselves. They want to love God without knowing themselves. Yet, discernment means recognizing what within us resists the spirit of Christ: pride, attachment, fear. The Gospel calculation is not an accounting exercise but an inner examination: am I ready to let God rebuild my foundations? True conversion takes place there.
Preferential love, the foundation of detachment
«To "prefer" Christ above all else means to restore love to its rightful place. Those who love God first learn to love their own more deeply. Evangelical detachment is not separation, but a prioritization.
In this light, every human endeavor becomes sanctified: family, work, creation, material possessions. By receiving them as gifts and not as rights, we discover gratitude. It is this gratitude that makes poverty joyful: it is not a lack but an offering.
To embody renunciation in everyday life
To experience this transition today is to shift our inner logic. In the personal sphere, the disciple is invited to purify their desires: to learn to say no to distraction and yes to depth. In the relational sphere, it means loving freely, without seeking to dominate or be indispensable. In the professional sphere, this is expressed through modest ambitions and prioritizing justice over success.
On a community level, this can lead to concrete choices: prioritizing the common good over personal recognition, living a life of voluntary simplicity, and supporting those in need. Within the Church, it calls for following not personal preferences but the mission. Finally, on an inner level, renunciation means accepting weakness and entrusting to God what is beyond our control.
Each act of renunciation then becomes an act of faith. We do not lose, we free up the space where God can act.
The spiritual and theological resonances of renunciation
This saying of Luke is rooted in the entire biblical tradition of detachment. In Genesis, Abraham leaves his country; in the Psalms, the righteous place their trust not in riches; in the Gospels, the apostles leave their nets and boats.
The theology of renunciation is structured around the Paschal Mystery: dying to oneself in order to live in God. Saint Paul expresses it: «It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.» Renunciation is therefore not a humiliation, but an ontological transformation.
In the monastic tradition, this attitude becomes a path to freedom: Saint Benedict speaks of "leaving everything to gain everything." Ignatius of Loyola formulates detachment as "holy indifference," that is, total inner availability.
On a spiritual level, renunciation opens the way to the grace of inner poverty: when the soul ceases to desire to possess, it can finally receive. This disposition is the foundation of both the contemplative life and active mission.
Meditation: walking in his footsteps
Step 1. Reread the passage slowly, welcoming the words without judging them.
Step 2. Identify what occupies the center of your heart today: attachment, fear, possession.
Step 3. Ask for the grace to prefer Christ, not through heroism, but through love.
Step 4. Take concrete action: share, forgive, simplify.
Step 5. Each night, entrust to God what you cannot bear alone.
Meditation thus becomes a place of inner unification where the demands of Christ are transformed into received gentleness.
Current challenges: giving up in a saturated world
Our societies value autonomy and performance. Talking about renunciation seems anachronistic. Yet, the excesses of consumerism demonstrate our urgent need to redefine freedom.
The first challenge is psychological: the fear of scarcity. Giving up something clashes with our instinct for security. But the Gospel response is not guilt: it is trust. The second challenge is social: material success tempts even believers. Sobriety becomes counter-cultural. Finally, the spiritual challenge is individualism: the idea that one can follow Christ without community.
Faced with this, the Christian attitude consists of combining discernment and courage: discerning the attachments that imprison us, daring to free ourselves from them little by little. Evangelical renunciation is not spectacular: it is lived in the quietude of the heart.
Prayer of surrender and peace
Lord Jesus,
You who walked directly to the cross,
Teach me to walk in your footsteps.
Teach me to prefer your love to my securities,
to place my possessions in your hands.
When fear holds me back, remind me of your word:
He who loses his life for your sake will save it.
Untie my bonds of pride and possession,
Give me the peace of a free heart.
May my life become an act of thanksgiving,
My poverty, a space for your grace.,
and my renunciations a song of trust.
That I follow you, not under duress,
but through grateful love, to endless joy.
Conclusion: rediscovering the joy of stripping away
Christian renunciation is not a mutilation, but an opening. Far from impoverishing, it enriches. It liberates humanity from illusions to conform it to Christ. In a world that constantly promises "always more," the Gospel proposes "less is more, with love.".
To be a disciple is to learn to build without possessing, to love without holding on. Therein lies true peace: the peace of trust in God.
Practices
- Begin each day with a simple offering: "Lord, whatever happens, I belong to you."«
- Choosing concrete simplicity: forgoing an unnecessary purchase, a controlling word, a complaint.
- To offer a symbolic possession (object, habit, time) to a work of art or to a loved one.
- Practice weekly discernment: what binds me? what sets me free?
- Read a passage from the Psalms about trust and meditate on it before going to sleep.
- Give thanks every day for what is given, without comparing.
- Participate in a solidarity or sharing initiative.
References
- Gospel according to Saint Luke 14:25-33
- First Letter of Peter 4:14
- Rule of Saint Benedict, ch. 4
- Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, no. 23
- Thérèse of Lisieux, Last Conversations
- Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, Volume I
- Francis, Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, §2544-2547
