A follower of Jesus (a Christian) is a person who has submitted their life to God (Father, Son and Spirit) through a personal relationship with Jesus the Son. This is made possible through the Son, Jesus Christ’s, perfect life, death, and resurrection. When a person obeys Him and lives under His grace as Lord and Savior, the Spirit lives inside of them forever and the sealing of the Spirit makes them a Christian, a FOLLOWER of JESUS. To begin this journey you all you must do is believe and obey. The concept is simple the practice is difficult.

How Do I Start?

During Jesus’ life and ministry, people would simply stop what they were doing and start following Him; this would be the beginning of their relationship with Jesus. Since Jesus is not here with us in physical form, we start our relationship with Him through prayer. If you haven’t prayed to start a relationship with Him and you’re interested in having a relationship with Him, it is easy. Just pray something like this: “Jesus I know that I’m imperfect and don’t know everything about you, but I want to start a relationship with you. I need your gift of salvation and I want to leave my sins and old life behind. I want to follow you and have your Spirit in my life.” That is how it all begins.

You may not be ready to give your life to Jesus, that’s your decision! You can still follow Jesus, learning more about Him and his design for your life.

Following Jesus Daily

In the Bible, Jesus is called “Lord of lords.” Another way to say that is Jesus is the boss of everything. When we become Christians we are telling Jesus we want Him to be the ultimate boss of our life. This means that we will follow His direction and guidance. In other words, if He tells us to do something, we will do our best to do it. This begins by learning what He has taught us in his Word, the Bible. For Christians, the Bible is the ultimate authority. As a result, a follower of Jesus should read the Bible often. Soak it up; it is your guide to life. In addition to reading the Bible, a Christian should try to follow Jesus’ example in everyday life. While He is our Lord, His life is also a perfect example of how to live. A third thing a follower of Jesus does is pray. These are ways we can become more like Jesus and we should try to do them every day.

Things You Need to Know

When a person becomes a Christian, they are a new person. Their life should be marked by change. A Christian should do things differently than the rest of the world. Some things that Christians are called to do include forgive others, love their enemies, put others first, and serve others. But we also know that becoming a Christian doesn’t make a person perfect— so don’t expect to get it all right at first! The goal is to do the right thing more and more often.

The follower of Jesus ought to live a fully surrendered life. The way to surrender everything is to surrender the next thing. What can you give to God today?

You also need to know that being a Christian isn’t guaranteed to be easy. It will help you understand why things happen the way they do but it doesn’t make your life perfect. Also some people will not like that you follow Jesus and might criticize you for this decision. But take comfort…Jesus also experienced criticism and persecution.

Going Deeper Read Matthew 16:24-28 and reflect on Jesus’ standard of following Him as compared to what most people think it means. Also, reflect on where Jesus might be asking you to make a change in your life.