"Take up your cross and follow me!" First of all, Jesus is asking you to take a cross (not crosses). Secondly, it is your own cross. He did not ask you take his cross and to suffer what he suffered. He did not ask you to take up the crosses of your family members or take anyone else's cross. There is only the one cross, your own, which you have to take up to follow Jesus.

More importantly, what does "cross" mean in this context? Suffering, which you should accept? Loneliness, which makes your life not worth living? Sin, which makes your life messy? Or simply every difficult problem, which you have to solve? The cross is a tool of salvation, a sign of love, a symbol of victory. The message of the cross is good news. When Jesus asks us to take up our cross daily, he wants us to live life in a new way; with hope, optimism and love. Leave your old life, old style of thinking, old habits and start a new journey, truly and joyfully following Jesus. Then ask yourself: "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul?"