Jesus never hid the cost of following him — this plan engages honestly with six of his hardest teachings about discipleship’s real price.
Day 1 — Count the Cost
Read Luke 14:28-30.
Jesus tells would-be followers to count the cost first, like a builder estimating before starting a tower — following him was never meant to be entered into lightly.
Try this: Honestly assess: have you counted the actual cost of following Christ, or entered in assuming it would be easy?
Day 2 — Take Up Your Cross
Read Luke 9:23.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” A cross was an instrument of death — Jesus’s language here is deliberately severe.
Try this: What would “denying yourself” specifically look like for you today, not just in theory?
Day 3 — Losing Life to Find It
Read Matthew 16:25.
“Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” A paradox at the center of discipleship — self-preservation isn’t actually the path to real life.
Try this: Where are you clinging to “saving your life” in a way that’s actually costing you real life?
Day 4 — Forsaking All
Read Luke 14:33.
“Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” A hard, total claim on everything, not just a portion of your life.
Try this: Is there something you’ve been holding back from full surrender to Christ?
Day 5 — The Rich Young Ruler
Read Mark 10:21-22.
Jesus tells a genuinely sincere, wealthy young man to sell everything and follow him — and the man walks away sorrowful, unwilling to pay that specific cost.
Try this: What’s your own version of the “one thing” you’re not yet willing to give up?
Day 6 — Worth Everything
Read Matthew 13:44-46.
The kingdom is compared to treasure worth selling everything for — the cost is real, but Jesus frames it as more than worth it, not a grim sacrifice.
Try this: Reflect on what you’ve already found in Christ that makes any cost of following him worth it.
Closing thought: Jesus never promised discipleship would be cheap or easy. He promised it would be worth it — a costly treasure, not a grim burden.