24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
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Matthew 16:24 Amplified Bible (AMP)
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple],
he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and
take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and
follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and,
if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
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7 Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself!
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22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
5 Examine and test and evaluat
and showing the proper fruits of it. Test and prove yourselves
Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience]
that Jesus Christ is in you—unless you are [counterfeits] disapproved on trial and rejected?
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3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
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2 Those who think they know something do not yet know anything as they should.
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
27 He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
28 And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”