"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it." I have been studying this passage for the past week or so, and one thing that I didn't notice at first glance completely changed my perspective on the verse when I finally saw it. It is found in a phrase that occurs twice: "Whosoever will." Both times, "whosoever will" in the Greek means, whoever wants to or purposes to. It's not enough! "Whosoever will come after me..." In our American church, it's easy to become introspective and look for a desire in yourself to come after Jesus. You might be asked, "do you want to live for Jesus?" and you say "Yes." Somehow that answer is enough, and we need not worry further as to our spiritual state.