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I believe Jesus is saying here, to be His disciple we must put Him first, ahead of our family, which is precious in this life. And the more we love Jesus, the more we become like Him if He is first in our life. We need to love Him enough to trust the direction/ path He calls us to follow.

Luke 14: 25-28 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple." And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it Up until now, hanging out with Jesus was like a big party; free food, healing, and always the banter between the Pharisees and Jesus, with Jesus ALWAYS coming out on top of the debate. According to the world's standards, Jesus was on top of His game, and his congregation was growing by leaps and bounds. Now, He throws a monkey wrench in the works, by telling them that following Him isn't just a big never ending party...there's a cost. He knew their hearts, they desired all the benefits of what He did without understanding who He was. They loved the gifts, not the giver and the life He was calling them to. So He's explaining what it takes to be one of His followers: Jesus isn't telling people to hate, He's telling them that as much as we love our family, that love should seem like hate compared to how much we love Him. He's is boldly saying that nothing can come between us and God, even good things like family. Sometimes we can be caught up in working to make ends meet, going to kids activities and feel like we need to cut out church or our quiet time, because there's just not enough time. Jesus isn't saying any of these things are bad, just don’t pursue them at the expense of spending time with Him - nothing, even your spouse, kids or job is more important than following and obeying Him. We must be willing to give up everything for Jesus. If our parents or spouse won't follow Jesus, we must still choose Him over them even if they disown us for being Christians. He doesn't want us to literally hate (viciously despise or wish harm to) the members of our family but we must choose Jesus over them even if they reject Him and force us to do so also. If your parent or spouse forbids is from following Him, we hafta disobey them and follow Jesus.They'll perceive this as hatred toward them, because they won't understand why their not as important to us as Jesus. We'll seem disloyal to them, especially if we try to witness to them. A Christians love for non-Christians appears to them as hatred, intolerance, bigotry, narrow mindedness, etc. It's hard, but we hafta be okay with being seen as "haters" because unbelieving relatives, no matter how much we love them, are still part of the world, and Jesus said, in John 15:18, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first”. Anyone who follows Jesus simply for what they can get won't stick around when the going gets tough. With prosperity, me-first teaching, they'll feel like God has betrayed then when they don't get what they prayed for In a very short time, the free food stopped, public opinion turned ugly, the cheers turned to jeers and the following dwindled radically. People today aren't much different in their approach to Christianity. The idea of eternal life, escaping hell, and having Jesus as their personal servant sounds to good to be true, because it is. Jesus said we must pick up our cross and follow Him. If someone says they're a Christian and nothing in their life has changed, there's serious doubt as to whether or not they really are a Christian. Following Christ means repenting and getting off the throne of our life and letting Jesus sit on the throne and call the shots. Papa God please open the eyes of Your church that we'll put You first and acknowledge You in all our ways, even when that seems unpopular or politically incorrect. Give us the grace to follow You no matter what, in Jesus name, Amen

this verse confuses me, makes me think it must be a typo because how can a person be a disciple if they hate their families and self.....makes no sense to me at all........enlighten me pleaseeeeee.

You have to be willing to be disliked, scorned, by those close to you. You have to be willing to turn and walk away from those dear and close to you when they begin to challenge you and your desire to turn away from things of the world and follow Jesus.

jesus needs to be first in everything we do or think.