Do you know why you believe what you believe? Often, we don’t think about the WHY of our faith (or lack thereof)…and if we don’t know WHY, how can we share our faith with others? Here are the three reasons I nailed down, as to why I believe in Jesus.
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I’ve been a born-again believer for 16 years now, and for most of that time, if you had asked me why I believe in Jesus, I couldn’t have explained it. I’m bad enough at speaking as it is (I totally identify with Moses in the Bible, y’all!), and couple that with me not even having my beliefs nailed down, I haven’t been much use for witnessing to others.
My faith has grown by leaps and bounds over the years though, and ultimately I decided it’s time I got serious about owning my reasons to believe in Jesus Christ. When someone asks me “Why should we believe in Jesus?”, I want to be able to speak with confidence and conviction!
So, I did what a good Christian should do (but that I sometimes forget!): I just outright asked God to give me two compelling reasons why I believe in Him, that I could share anytime I’m asked about my faith.
What God gave me was not just two, but THREE reasons to believe in Jesus Christ!
These reasons incorporate all the touch points of my faith journey: Beginning with why I WANTED to believe in the first place, and then why I CHOSE to believe (to give my life to Christ), and finally why I CONTINUE to believe.
3 Reasons to Believe in Jesus Christ
It’s my hope that, by sharing these with you, you’ll be inspired in your own faith and witness. And, if you don’t yet believe in Jesus, I hope my reasons for choosing to believe in Jesus will help you get there too.
1) I first WANTED to believe in Jesus, because I was afraid of going to hell.
Selfish, I know, but it was a great motivation!
I had grown up in the church, and I knew that if Christianity were true, I definitely wanted to do whatever necessary to end up in heaven and not hell. So, it became very important to me to seek answers, to understand what made Christianity better than any other “religion”, and to make a decision of what to believe.
Thankfully, in college I was surrounded by many “Jesus freaks” in my classmates and professors, and thanks to their testimonies and my own research, I was able to reach a conclusion.
There were several things that really struck me, as I observed and absorbed the faith of my peers. First, was how genuine they seemed, how kind-hearted they were, and how they talked about Jesus as if He was their best friend. That’s what happens when you believe in Jesus; you become a much better person! And I certainly wanted what they had.
And the second thing that struck me was, the difference between Christianity and other religions. Several of my classmates had taken a “World Religions” course as part of their studies, and they explained that Christianity is the only ‘religion’ in which God loves us so much, He actually gave His only Son (Jesus) as a living sacrifice to atone for our sins. All other religions say we need to earn our way to heaven through our own good behavior. But the Bible says we could never be good enough on our own, so He arranged to pay the price for us! What kind of God does that???
So if you’re asking yourself, “Why believe in Jesus?”, the simplest answer is just because God believed in you first! He sent Jesus to pay the price for your sins before you even knew you needed forgiveness. And, it’s a free gift—all you need to do is accept it!
(If you’re interested in exploring more about Jesus Christ, His life on earth, and the evidence surrounding His death and resurrection, I highly recommend reading The Case for Christ!)
2) I CHOSE to believe—to repent of my sins and accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior—because I realized that I am a sinner.
Y’all, this took me a long time to come to terms with! For most of my life up to that point, I saw myself as the “good girl”—the one who always behaved, got good grades, and generally did a lot of things “right”.
But yet, the Bible teaches that every one of us has sinned in some way. Even our “righteous” acts are as “filthy rags” (tainted by our own selfish desires, like volunteering at a soup kitchen because it makes US feel better, not necessarily out of concern for the poor)!
We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)
Nowadays, I clearly see the many ways I fall short. How many times I’ve chosen selfishly, failed to love God with my whole heart, failed to love my neighbor as myself! And that knowledge of my shortcomings only makes me that much more grateful for God’s infinite mercy and grace.
In a nutshell, I believe in Jesus because I see how much I need Him!
3) I CONTINUE to believe in Jesus, because I’ve seen God!
Why do I believe in Jesus? Because, as C.S. Lewis so eloquently put it, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” BOOM.
I’ve experienced His mercy, His goodness, His provision, and I’ve caught glimpses of His plan for my life. The evidence in favor of God’s existence is everywhere y’all! And it totally outweighs all the arguments against Him.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:20 (NIV)
I love what the apostle Peter said, when Jesus asked him “You do not want to leave too, do you?” (after many other disciples had left, deciding that following Jesus was too hard). Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:63-69, NIV)
Indeed, Jesus holds the key to eternal life. To whom else would I go?
It was an admittedly selfish reason that I first wanted to believe (to be saved from hell), but it’s because of who God is, and all that He’s done for me, that I continue to believe. God is a God who never gives up on us, in spite of our rebellious ways. After all, He prepared a solution to our sin problem, before we even knew we had a problem!
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8 (NIV)
How to Be Saved According to the Bible
Do YOU believe in Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? If not, I encourage you to get to know Him. He’s absolutely worth it!
If my own reasons for believing in Christ have sparked your curiosity, you might be wondering: “How do I believe in Jesus for myself?” And to that, I suggest that you simply give Him a try. Give Jesus the benefit of the doubt! Ask Him to help you believe. Keep an open heart and mind, and see what He does in your life.
The Bible says to believe in Jesus and you will be saved:
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Romans 10:9-10 (NLT)
I hope these reasons to believe in Jesus Christ have helped boost your faith, as you seek a relationship with Him. I pray God will show Himself to you in such a way, that you find He is undeniable—and He is everything you need.
Hi! Thank you so much for visiting Divine Creative Love. I’m a Jesus-lovin’ girl, lettering artist, designer, and general creative-at-heart. And, I have narcolepsy. I blog about faith in God, overcoming challenges, and creative topics such as Bible journaling. If you’re new here, be sure and subscribe to my list so you won’t miss anything!
I have been seeking to believe in God too because I don’t want to go to hell. I want a relationship with Him. I am tired of being afraid. It takes control of me sometimes. I am going to do as you suggested and ask God to show me reasons why I should believe in Him. I can think of one now. He knew I would have breast cancer and put me in a place where I would have people to support me even though I did not want to be in that paticular place.
I’m praying for you, Ruth. I know God will use the circumstances of your life to grow your faith and reliance on Him.
This has really spoken to me. I suffer from OCD accompanied by anxiety PTSD and severe depression. I was absolutely on fire for Jesus several yrs ago and then I fell back into my own desires and even though I’d pray from time to time ,I didn’t even give it another thought till recently of how much I desperately needed God/Jesus in my life and I came back to him for the wrong reasons of believing in my mind I had committed the unpardonable sin due to my OCD and constant intrusive thoughts. I panicked and had intrusive thoughts on a constant from there, but still felt Gods presence through it, I even felt the Holy Spirit at times but I would lie in bed terrified that I would say or think something against Jesus or God and would be on a constant defense with scripture. I’ve lost bouts of sleep and most of it is due to waking up after sleep with thoughts in my mind going against Jesus subconsciously it seems and convincing myself that God had forsakened me even though his word says He would never. My faith and prayers are pretty shakened and I seek prayer whenever I can find it. Thanks for this blessing though, it has helped me to realize why I loved Jesus in the first place.
Wow, you’re welcome, I’m so glad this helped you. All praise and glory to God! Please don’t give up on Him, as He never gives up on you. ❤️
Thank you for sharing this.
It helped me reach clarity
You’re welcome Michel! So glad it helped you 🙏🏼