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Scripture

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

- Matthew 16:24-25 (KJV)

Interpretation

He who follows behind Jesus is not he who only confesses Him to be the Son of God [as Peter had just done as recorded in Matthew 16:16], but rather it is he who undergoes all tribulations and endures them [as Peter would later do through his martyrdom by crucifixion for confessing Christ]. Christ's words, "Let him deny himself," indicate utter denial.

That is to say, let him noy be kindly disposed towards his own body, let him look down on it ... Therefore no one should have any friendship towards the body, so that he can take up his cross, that is, choose death and even eagerly desire the most ignominious death, for this is what the cross meant to the ancients.

But He also said, "Let him follow Me, for many robbers and thieves are crucified but they are not My disciples." So "let him follow," that is, let him also show forth every other virtue. The one who yesterday was dissolute denies himself and today he is temperate. Such was Paul who had denied himself when he said, "I live yet it is no longer I, but Christ that liveth in me" [Galatians 2:20]. He that has mortified and crucified himself to the world is he that takes up his cross. 

+ Blessed Theophylact, Explanation of the Gospel According to St Matthew, pp. 142-143.

[Put another way: "... he that shall endure unto the end [τέλος - telos: purpose], the same shall be saved." - Matthew 24:13]

Application

We must pay close attention to everything we do, and uproot the ferocious beat of egotism that eats away at us. Our ego! When it erupts within us, we become enraged, we criticise, we make demands, we curse, we ridicule and humiliate others. It is a beast! This is what impels us to criticise. This is what inflates us with the idea that we have accomplished great things, that we are good, that we possess virtues, and thousands of other such things.

The origin of all good things is humility; conversely, the origin of all evils is egotism.

- Elder Ephraim of Arizona, The Art of Salvation, p. 69.

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Enduring hardships in our life for the love of Christ allows for His tenderness to come to our heart. Divine pleasures are borne out of bodily pain. The Fathers gave blood and received Spirit. With effort and sweat, they received Grace. They threw away their own self and found it in the hands of God.

+ St. Paisios the Athonite, Spiritual Counsels Volume V: Passions and Virtues, p. 54

Art Source

"Plague panel" from early 17th century Augsburg with a skull and crossbones with leaf crown.