Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

When you get married, many times the vows contain the phrase for the groom and bride to “forsake all others”.
You cannot have a relationship with your wife and still have girlfriends.
You might be friends with some but you cannot hang out with them as you did in the past.
The same is said for the wife.
It’s not that you hate or despise them, but their importance in your life is different.
Your wife or husband becomes the center of your life.
Becoming a Christian is somewhat like that.
You set aside all other relationships for Christ.
In fact, Jesus said you cannot be His disciple unless you do so.
It’s very strong language in today’s verse.
It does not mean to hate as much as it means to love less.
I remember when I first married I would take off my socks in a ball and just throw them on the floor.
Linda informed me she was not my mother and wanted me to pull my socks out of the ball.
She threatened to wash them that way if I continued to wad them up.
It took discipline on my part to retrain myself to pull my socks off straight.
But I did it knowing it would please my wife.
It takes discipline to live a pleasing life for Christ too!