Crosses are often seen as negative things, a burden, something painful, or something to be avoided. But in reality, our crosses can be something incredibly beautiful. Our sufferings and the crosses we carry can become places where the love of God comes alive. How many times in your life have you tried to avoid your crosses? To avoid suffering, pain, or difficult emotions? How often have you tried to avoid them at all costs, both big and small? Yet Jesus is clear: unless we lay down our lives, take up our cross daily, and follow Him, we cannot be His disciples.

But what we sometimes forget is that the cross always comes with the One who was crucified upon it. When we embrace our cross, we also embrace Christ. Our crosses become beautiful opportunities to make our lives a gift. When we reject our crosses or try to push them away, they often become even heavier. But when we invite the Lord into our suffering and ask Jesus to help us see Him in the midst of them, something begins to change. Our suffering is no longer meaningless. It becomes an opportunity to encounter Christ and to become more like Him.

And as we begin to embrace our crosses with the Lord, our lives are transformed we begin to live like Him. We begin to love like Him. We begin to bring His love into the world, not by trying to preserve our own lives, but by laying them down, just as He did.