What Does It Mean to Follow Jesus?

“Follow me.”

Those are two of the simplest words Jesus ever spoke. They’re also two words that completely changed the lives of the people who heard them.

When Jesus called His first disciples, He wasn’t simply inviting them to believe a few things about Him. He was inviting them to build their lives around Him.

And He still is.

Following Jesus begins with trusting Jesus.
Christianity isn't primarily about becoming a better person or trying harder to live a good life. It begins with recognizing that we need something that we cannot provide for ourselves.

We need forgiveness. We need grace. We need new life.

The good news of the gospel is that Jesus has provided all of that through His death and resurrection. He died for our sins, rose from the dead, and offers eternal life to anyone who trusts in Him.

That's where following Jesus starts—not with what we do for Him, but with what He has done for us.

Following Jesus means learning from Jesus.
The word "disciple" simply means "learner". A disciple of Jesus is someone who is learning from Him how to live. That's why we spend so much time in the Bible at The Bridge. We want to know Jesus. We want to understand what He taught. And then we want His words to actually shape the way we live.

Following Jesus reaches into our marriages, our parenting, our friendships, our work, our finances, our priorities, and even the way we treat people who are difficult to love. It impacts how we view the world and interact with the cultural issues of our time.

None of us gets it all right all the time. That's part of following Him too. We keep learning.

Following Jesus means becoming more like Jesus.
Jesus isn't merely interested in changing where we spend eternity. He wants to change who we're becoming right now too! The longer we follow Him by faith, the more our lives should begin to take His shape.

We learn to love people because He loves people. We forgive because He has forgiven us. We serve because He served. We become generous because He has been generous toward us.

That kind of change doesn't happen overnight. Following Jesus is a lifelong process. But we believe Jesus meets us where we are and loves us too much to leave us there.

Following Jesus was never meant to be done alone.
Jesus called individual people, but He called them into a community. We need each other.

We need people who will encourage us when we're struggling, pray with us when life hurts, remind us of what's true when we've forgotten, and sometimes challenge us when we're headed in the wrong direction.

That's one of the reasons the local church matters. We open His Word together. Ask questions. Spend time together. Worship and celebrate what God is doing together!

So if you're just beginning your journey of following Jesus start with some of that: Open His Word! Start with the Jesus and the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John. Discover how Jesus lived. Learn what Jesus taught. Trust Him enough to do what He says.