Ever read a Bible verse that made you do a double take? Luke 14:26 is one of them:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.”
Wait… what? Didn’t Jesus tell us to love others?
Kelly K tackled this exact question, and his response is simple: “Hold on, hold on, hold on—don’t get offended yet!”
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Context Is Everything
“You can’t just zoom into one Scripture and make a whole doctrine out of it,” Kelly warns. The Bible is all about love, not hate. “Love God and love people.” And guess what? “Unless your parents are from Mars, they’re people, people!”
So, what does Jesus mean by “hate”? The New Living Translation makes it clearer:
“If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else.”
Ah—that makes more sense, doesn’t it? Jesus isn’t telling us to hate our parents. He’s saying our love for Him should be so great that our love for anyone else looks small in comparison.
/**/Jesus Comes First
Kelly puts it this way: “Jesus should consume your entire heart.” But too often, when we need help, we run to family first instead of Him.
“What Jesus is trying to tell you is He is number one. Not your mom, not your dad, not your spouse, not your brother or sister.”
What About the Man Who Wanted to Bury His Father?
In Matthew 8:21-23, a man asks Jesus if he can bury his father before following Him. Jesus responds, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You follow me.”
Sounds harsh, right?
Not really. Back then, the son who buried his father received a bigger inheritance. Jesus knew the man’s true motive—money, not mourning.
“God doesn’t care about your actions. He cares about your heart.”
The Heart of the Matter
This passage isn’t about hating your parents. It’s about loving Jesus above all else.
As Kelly sums it up: “The love we have for everyone else comes out of the love we first received from Jesus.”
So, if this verse ever confused you, don’t worry—you’re not alone. But now that we’ve unpacked it, maybe it’s time to do what Kelly K suggests:
“Go hug your mom and think about that for a minute.”
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James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
