What does Matthew 10:39 mean?

Jesus has said a startling thing: Those who will not take up their cross and follow Him are not worthy of Him. He had not yet died on the cross, so the disciples would not have associated this with His death, at least not yet. Still, the cross was always about death. Jesus was teaching them to willingly participate in dying to themselves, freely giving up their own lives to follow His difficult path (Matthew 10:38).

Scripture teaches that Christ's path is the path to finding true life (John 10:10). Dying to self is about finding the best possible life, both on earth and especially in eternity. Some will refuse to believe in Jesus; they will not follow Him. Such people may find "their" lives: their own worldly definitions of success or achievement or getting what they want. In truth, though, they will lose "true" life. They will forfeit eternity. Whatever life they find in the here and now will come at the cost of losing the life that is abundant forever.

Those who do willingly lose their lives by dying to themselves for His sake, however, will find eternal life. In fact, following Jesus is the path to the life that is true and lasting.