Christian cost and gain

a gathering of evangelical Christians praying

Jesus talks about cost before He sends out His disciples. The cost of stability and relationship. The cost of tradition.The cost of comfort. The cost of love. But He talks about gains too. What are they?

Luke 9:57-62 New Living Translation (NLT) The Cost of Following Jesus
Cost of stability and comfort
57 As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”
Cost of relationship and tradition
59 He said to another person, “Come, follow me.”
The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead![a] Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.”
Cost of love
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.”
62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Jesus speaks of the gains too.(Luke 10:1-20) What are they? 
The gain of the Kingdom of God. The gain of following Jesus is tremendous: money and material (Luke 10:4); provision (food and drink and lodging); power to heal the sick (10:9); authority of Jesus over spiritual enemies (10:16, 18-20); book of life (10:20); know God (10:22); see what others cannot see (10:23-24).

2014: a year of giving up

Count The Cost and Journey On in 2014

Luke 14
²⁵ A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, ²⁶ “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
²⁸ “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? ²⁹ Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. ³⁰ They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
³¹ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? ³² And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.  

cost of the kingdom of God

³⁴ “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? ³⁵ Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”
Luke 18 
²⁶ Those who heard this said, “Then who in the world can be saved?”
²⁷ He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.”
²⁸ Peter said, “We’ve left our homes to follow you.”
²⁹ “Yes,” Jesus replied, “and I assure you that everyone who has given up house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the Kingdom of God, ³⁰ will be repaid many times over in this life, and will have eternal life in the world to come.”