a great investment!

Matthew 19:27-30

It occurred to me that I didn't really deal with this section of the story. Peter, in typical bold fashion, reminds Jesus that they truly have given up everything, just as Jesus had asked the rich young man to do, and wonders what they will receive in return. Jesus points to three things: 1) they will sit on thrones of authourity over the 12 tribes of Israel, 2) they will receive eternal life and 3) they will receive 100x what they have given up. This sounds like a great investment. It's guaranteed by Jesus himself. The rate of return is unparalleled. It seems like a sure thing.
My problem is not with the rate of return. Nor is my problem with the trustworthiness of Jesus. My problem, or, to be more accurate, my question, is about some of the things that Jesus seems to commend his disciples for giving up.
I am fine with most of the list. Houses and fields cause me no problems. My commitment to Jesus should overshadow any kind of commitment to property or material possessions. I must be willing to give all of that up for the sake of Jesus. Brother, sister, father and mother don't cause me much trouble either. I get that a disciple may have to give up relationships with family in order to follow Jesus. I understand that I might have to lose touch with and lose a relationship with them for the sake of Christ.
It's the wife or children that I have trouble with. This makes me wonder if I perhaps am misunderstanding what Jesus means by giving up. Everything I have been taught is that the family is paramount. I must do whatever I can to preserve my relationship with my wife and child. We look down on those who are so consumed with their work or ministry that their family life suffers and, yet, it seems like Jesus commends that very behaviour in this passage.
I understand that I must be cautious because there are those that will use this verse as an excuse to ditch their wife and children. However, I wonder if we, in western christian culture, have so elevated the place of family that it was become an idol.
Don't get me wrong. I need to be a way better husband and father than I am and by the grace of God I will grow more and more into those roles. Also, I am asking questions here, not making statements.
Here's what I do know. I do not value Christ or his work highly enough. I want him to be my treasure and my joy. I want his heart for the world to become my heart for the world. I want him to be my number one priority.

family ties

Matthew 10:34-39

Jesus explores several family relationships leading up to his conclusion of his instructions to his disciples. The key words are: peace (in contrast to the sword) and not worthy of me. Jesus asks his disciples to compare their love for their fathers, mothers, sons and daughters to their love for him. He also uses an oxymoron: whoever finds their life will lose it and whoever loses their life will find it.
This connects to what Jesus said earlier in his speech about brother betraying brother to death. He comes back to that theme here, quoting Micah. It also echoes Jesus' teaching about the cost of discipleship in several other passages, especially the phrase "whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me."
The point of this passage is that no matter what the people who are closest in my life think of me, I have to put Jesus first and follow him, even at the cost of family relationships and even to death if necessary. I struggle with this teaching because so much of what I hear today is that I should make my family my priority (after God and before my ministry). I agree that my ministry is not my job and that I could tend to make my job my priority but I'm not sure how people can seperate their obedience to God and their ministry so cleanly and I'm concerned that North American Christians are sometimes using their families as an excuse to not take risks for the kingdom of God. I wonder if we are showing Jesus that we actually love our families more than we love him. If that is the case, then we are not worthy of Jesus. Again, I'm asking the questions because I don't have the answers - I'm just trying to understand the teaching of Jesus here.