Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained the phrase “take up your cross”:
“The daily taking up of the cross means daily denying ourselves the appetites of the flesh.
“By emulating the Master, who endured temptations but ‘gave no heed unto them,’ we, too, can live in a world filled with temptations ‘such as [are] common to man’ (1 Corinthians 10:13). Of course Jesus noticed the tremendous temptations that came to Him, but He did not process and reprocess them. Instead, He rejected them promptly. If we entertain temptations, soon they begin entertaining us! Turning these unwanted lodgers away at the doorstep of the mind is one way of giving ‘no heed.’ Besides, these would-be lodgers are actually barbarians who, if admitted, can be evicted only with great trauma” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1987, 88; or Ensign, May 1987, 71).