What did Jesus mean when he said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters — yes, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26, NIV).
That doesn’t sound like the Jesus we know and love. Is He really telling us to hate the people closest to us? Of coarse not.
Think of it this way. The idea Jesus was getting across is If you could somehow pour your love for your spouse or children or parents into a measuring cup, then pour your love for Him into another measuring cup, you should need a really big one to measure your love for Him. In fact the measure of your love for Him should be so big that when it’s set beside the cup containing your love for people, that smaller cup looks like hate in comparison.