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.See also: bear, cross, have

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