Before we talk about what you think of Jesus, you need to know what you think about yourself. Do you think of yourself as a good person? Do you try to do what’s right and live a good life? Maybe a better question is, do you even see the need for Jesus? There’s a passage in the Bible that says Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Do you think you have it all together, or are you lost? I hate to rain on your parade, but if you think you have it all together and you have no need for Jesus, you’re wrong. Nobody has it all together completely. You cannot begin your walk with Christ until you realize your need for him. The Bible word for it is “sin.” And that simply means that you have not lived up to God’s perfect standard. Your spiritual journey begins with the recognition that you need a spiritual journey.

God knows you can’t fix your sin problem on your own. Therefore, God sent someone to help you, someone who did have it all together, who was perfect and without fault. That person’s name is Jesus. To make it simple, since you don’t live up to God’s standard, you deserve death. But Jesus, who did live up to God standard, died in your place. And because Jesus died in your place, that means you can live without having to pay the price for your failure before God. The Bible calls it a free gift; but how do you unwrap that gift?   

The physical act that displays repentance and faith is baptism. By participating in baptism, you demonstrate humility before God as you place your life in the hands of another. It is a physical exhibition of that fancy word repentance. By going under the water, you symbolize a death to your old lifestyle and are raised to new life filled with the Spirit of God.

Recognizing your own shortcomings and need for God with the desire to follow him and being baptized into Christ is the easy part. Following that you begin a lifelong journey of learning to walk in step with Jesus. Breaking old habits and learning a new way of life is hard. To be honest, it’s a process that will last the rest of your life. From this point you begin a journey of learning what the Bible teaches about God and about life. You will stumble and make mistakes, and sometimes you may even return to old habits, but you are never alone. Learning how to connect with Jesus and live by the Spirit that now lives within you is the greatest adventure of your life.

This is only the beginning of what it means to be a Christian. We encourage you to reach out to any of our staff members who will be delighted to talk to you about entering a relationship with Christ that will give you joy beyond your wildest dreams.