Pope Francis Quotes

If you ignore every single thing Jesus told you to do, you are just auditing. You're not a Christian.

Followers of Jesus who count the cost and are willing to take up their crosses after him must have broad shoulders.

If any want to become my followers," Jesus says. Following him is not something that is self-evident, even among the disciples. No one can be forced, no one can be expected to follow him. ... "If any want to follow me, they must deny themselves ... and take up their cross.

Give up your good 'Christian' life and follow Jesus

To follow Jesus means putting him first, and stripping ourselves of all the things that oppress our hearts.

The cross is not a mere event in history; it's a way of life! Take up your cross DAILY, Jesus said!

It's not easy to follow Jesus' example, and if you go to church it doesn't mean you're automatically doing it.

Even the disciples of Jesus all fled from their master's cross. Christians who do not have the feeling that they must flee the crucified Christ have probably not yet understood him in a sufficiently radical way.

Carrying the cross does mean following in Jesus' footsteps. And in His footsteps are rejection, brokenheartedness, persecution and death. There are not two Christs - an easy going one for easy going Christians, and a suffering one for exceptional believers. There is only one Christ. Are we willing to follow His lead?

I model my life after my Lord and Master Jesus Christ and his life. He has called me into God's family and I am a representative for him so I just try to be obedient to what He asks me to do.

How utterly terrible is the current idea that Christians can serve God at their own convenience.

The honour of Jesus Christ is at stake in your bodily life. Are you remaining loyal to the Son of God in the things which beset His life in you? Do you continue to go with Jesus? The way lies through Gethsemane, through the city gate, outside the camp; the way lies alone, and the way lies until there is no trace of a footstep left, only the voice, 'Follow Me.'

Christ calls us to carry the Cross; churches call us to have fun in His name.

Jesus' call to bear the cross places all who follow him in the community of the forgiveness of sins. Forgiving sins is the Christ-suffering required of his disciples. It is required of all Christians.

Our mission as Christians is to conform ourselves evermore to Jesus as the model of our lives.

I believe that we are given an order by Jesus. One of the last things he did was to spread the word of God and he being the basis for our salvation. Christians are supposed to be evangelicals. And I am.

No healthy Christian ever chooses suffering; he chooses God's will, as Jesus did, whether it means suffering or not.

He will be the best Christian who has Christ for his Master, and truly follows Him. Some are disciples of the church, others are disciples of the minister, and a third sort are disciples of their own thoughts; he is the wise man who sits at Jesus' feet and learns of Him, with the resolve to follow His teaching and imitate His example. He who tries to learn of Jesus Himself, taking the very words from the Lord's own lips, binding himself to believe whatsoever the Lord hath taught and to do whatsoever He hath commanded-he I say, is the stable Christian.

Real life begins by committing yourself completely to Jesus Christ.

Following Jesus means taking up one's own cross to accompany him on his path, an uncomfortable path that is not one of success or earthly glory, but which leads to true freedom, the freedom from selfishness and sin.

I ... am endeavoring ... to attend to my own duty only as a Christian. ... let us take care that our Christianity, though put to the test ... be not shaken, and that our love for things really good wax not cold.

Discipleship is based solely on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on following after a particular belief or doctrine.

How is it that many who profess and call themselves Christians, do so little for the Savior whose name they bear?

You can be a follower of Jesus and not necessarily be a Christian.

Let us remind ourselves that if we are to be our Lord's disciples, we must take up his Cross and follow him.