have your cross to bear

have (one's) cross to bear

To have a difficult responsibility or burden that one must handle on one's own. Nancy has had her cross to bear since her husband passed away—raising four children on her own. Because I wanted to go to grad school, I have my cross to bear with even more student loans. If Mom's really sick and needs someone to take care of her, then we have our cross to bear as her kids.

See also: bear, cross, have, to

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

have your cross to bear

suffer the troubles that life brings.

The reference here is to Jesus (or Simon of Cyrene) carrying the Cross to Calvary before the Crucifixion. The image is also used metaphorically in the New Testament (for example, in Matthew 10:38: ‘And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me’).

See also: bear, cross, have, to

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017