Repent, Believe, Follow...Repeat?

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Most people of faith can articulate what the journey of faith looks like.

Repent. Believe. Follow.

It’s a simple formula, up and to the right. Unfortunately, simple formulas don’t always convert smoothly in a complex life. Repentance can be triggering if you don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. Belief can be a challenge when there is so much at stake. And following is just hard! Even with the best intentions and strongest will power. So we drop the ball. We fumble the play. We forget our lines. We mess up. Simple as that. Now what? 

Before we explore what happens next, let’s establish what we mean by repent, believe, and follow. 

Repent

Repentance is more than just admitting you’re wrong. It is also coming to the end of yourself. It isn’t only the willingness to give up a life of sin, but it is the resolve to stop trying to be your own savior, too. Because the truth is that it is exhausting to try to be good enough, to measure up, to check off all the boxes, to not let God down. So we repent. Repent of the efforts we make to save ourselves and try to find fulfillment in everything and anything else.

A simple prayer can sound like this: 

God, I’m sorry for trying to be my own savior. I’m sorry for trying to make a life without you. For looking for love, validation, hope, and meaning in good but wrong places. I repent of living solely for myself. I repent of my selfishness, my desire for comfort over calling, for being self-seeking and for making idols out of the gifts you’ve given me. I surrender myself to you.

Believe

So you finally got honest about the ways you try to be your own savior and be your own lord of your heart. What’s next? Where do you put all that hope and longing? The next step is to believe. Truly believe that Jesus can be for you all the things that you could not be for yourself. To fulfil the longings you have to find joy in all the wrong places. Whether sinful or self-serving. Believe that Jesus can equip you to overcome the temptation to sin, and then empower you to live a life that honors him, rather than a life that serves only you.

A simple prayer can sound like this:

Jesus, I believe that your perfect life fulfilled all the requirements by God for union with him and that your sacrifice on my behalf erased any penalty of debt I owe. I also believe that union with God is the only way to the fulfilling and flourishing life I long for. So I believe that my surrendered life to you by faith saves me from sin and death and affords me all I need to live a godly life. Jesus, show me how to live that life of faith now and not just wait for heaven later.  

Follow

So you’ve repented of your sin. You believe in Jesus for your salvation. You’re now ready to follow in his footsteps by giving up your life and living for him. You make time to spend with Jesus. You make time to do the things he did: reading Scripture, praying to God, serving others. You live a life of surrender and find fulfilment in living for Jesus.

You’ve given up your rights, your preferences, your spending, your free time.

It’s all yours, Jesus. You’re not just my Savior, you’re my Lord. 

For Jesus to be Lord of your life, means you are doing what he wants. You live a life of surrendered obedience because your life is not your own. You recognize that you were bought at a price and you are willing to honor God with your whole self.

What could go wrong…?

Repeat..?

Why repeat? Because we don’t always live surrendered lives. We don’t always give God lordship of our lives. We don’t always make the choices of a disciple or apprentice of Jesus. We don’t always lay down our lives and preferences. And sometimes, or many times, we even fall back into old sinful patterns, habits or anxious thoughts, anger, and selfishness.

And so we repent. We realign. We redirect our steps. We believe that God can do for us all the things we could not through our faith and obedience to him.

We follow again. We follow the way of Jesus. 

Most Christians stay stuck at believe. Their faith is at an emotional or intellectual level. So Jesus is either a source of comfort and peace at an emotional level in the context of a life that is not surrendered to him. These people will likely “feel God’s presence” at a worship service, but do not give Jesus much thought the rest of the week. 

Alternatively for the intellect, the truth about Jesus simply makes sense based on facts and figures that have proven the existence of God, the life of Jesus, and the validity of his resurrection. They may even agree and align themselves with a set of moral values founded in the Bible. Unfortunately, that is where it ends. Repent. Believe. But don’t follow. Don’t surrender. But it is in the trenches of life where faith makes the biggest difference and lasting impact. If self-professing Christians don’t move into the “follow” stage of Christianity, then they’re not really Jesus' followers. Riding an emotional high, assuming a Christian label, or aligning ourselves with a set of values or ideologies does not make us disciples. Does not mean we are following. 

So this is where the repeat is so critical. Because when we inevitably fail, or get hurt, or find ourselves disillusioned with our brand of Christianity, we have to come back to the beginning.

We have to repeat and that starts with repentance. 

God, I repent. I’m sorry for trying to be my own savior. I’m sorry for trying to make a life without you. For looking for love, validation, hope, and meaning in good but wrong places. I repent of living solely for myself. I repent of my selfishness, my desire for comfort over calling, for being self-seeking and for making idols out of the gifts you’ve given me. I surrender myself to you.

We believe again…

Jesus, I believe that your perfect life fulfilled all the requirements by God for union with him and that your sacrifice on my behalf erased any penalty of debt I owe. I also believe that union with God is the only way to the fulfilling and flourishing life I long for. So I believe that my surrendered life to you by faith saves me from sin and death and affords me all I need to live a godly life. Jesus, show me how to live that life of faith now and not just wait for heaven later.

And then we can follow Jesus. Not just as Savior for eternity, but Lord of my life right now. And I go where we leads. And I trust that he is good. I know that he is for my good. And I repeat the process, however many times it takes. Because I just want to be with him. Even though I don’t do it perfectly or consistently. I want to be with him. 

Repent:

“God, have mercy on me, a sinner!” Luke 18:13

Believe:

“I believe! Help my unbelief.” Mark 9:24

Follow:

“I will follow you wherever you go.” Luke 9:57

Repeat: “‘Return to me’, declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you.’” Zechariah 1:3

And that’s the beauty of it. God is always ready to receive us when we return to him. 

What’s in the Ears

This is the part where I share a song or podcast I’m currently into. My kids and I are really into Forrest Frank’s new album titled, Dawn Patrol and my favorite song is called, First Love. Let me know if you check it out! 

If this stirred something in you, share this post with a friend or drop a comment below. I’d love to hear what small step you’re taking towards the flourishing life today! And don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.