No one told me following Jesus would be this hard

Letting go of the old 

No one told me that following Jesus would be this hard — but also worth it. This walk we walk is not a cakewalk. When you first give your life to Jesus you enter into a whole new world. Now, each person's story is different but each one is filled with so much awe and joy. For me when I first came to Christ that was sorta the case. I was 16 it was the year 2023 and prior to me saying yes to Jesus, I had said yes to many other things that upon encountering Jesus I knew I had to ditch. I had said yes to marijuana, rebellion, witchcraft, lust, and to be quite frank, the whole world and all its “fulfilling” suggestions. I knew that the new life that I was entering required for me to let go of the old things. To be transparent it was hard, letting go of the things that had become a part of my normal life and daily routines. It was a lot of change and as we know, change is not commonly easy. For me, quitting smoking and overcoming lust was the most difficult. However, like many who come to Christ, I found that the challenge was worth it.

The struggle is a part of the process 

It was to my surprise and relief  when I stumbled across Matthew 16:24-25 which says “24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” This gave me a sense of relief because it showed me that this suffering and struggling wasn’t just a me thing. It was part of the process — a sign that I was walking in the right direction. That realization gave me hope to keep pressing forward. The part which says deny your flesh means to go against your natural fleshly inclinations. This level of surrender is not commonly seen. Jesus took up His cross and suffered for our sake. Jesus suffered, so will we. That is the truth of being a followerer of Jesus. 

Grace will meet us there

So I am here to tell you YES it is going to be hard. Jesus is not going to MAKE you change your ways but in your heart, eventually you will feel led to do so in some capacity. But one thing to remember is that you are not alone and isolated from Christ in your sufferings. You are becoming more like Him through it. The pastors, podcasters, and mentors that you look up to have all went through a process of hard change and suffering. It is not easy nor do you do it perfectly. After quitting smoking I fell back into old habits quite a few times. I felt terrible like I had let God down. But that's where His Grace had space to meet me where I was. Grace is the  gentle loving extension of second chances, and through His magnificent grace I grew to overcome smoking and lust once and for all. What’s something you’ve had to surrender to follow Jesus? Let His grace meet you there.