Come to Jesus as You Are… But Be Ready to Change

free bible images- rev. henry martin

What do you think of when you hear, “come as you are?” For me, it’s a mix of the Nirvana song and spiritual hippies. I used to love saying “come as you are” before I was a Christian. It felt warm, open-minded, and welcoming.

This was back when I was a New Ager who read tarot cards and believed that everything and everyone was God. However, when I surrendered to Christ, I knew deep down that I would go through a difficult shedding process of these beliefs.

I held onto many stubborn, even selfish, beliefs that were hurting both me and others. I thought my way was the highway, and that anyone who disagreed with me was dead wrong. I thought I was the most moral person on the planet, and I dreamed of being someone people looked up to.

To put it simply, I was ignorant.

An example of this is that I once believed Satan was not real. I also thought sin was not real either. I genuinely thought the devil and sin were made up to scare people into following Christianity.

Although after I experienced intense suicidal thoughts the night I came to Christ, I just couldn’t follow through with that anymore. I mean, the world has so many deaths, attacks, and pain… how can you not believe that Satan is real?

He is a major reason why our world is broken and why we need Jesus.

When I came to Jesus, I had a confusing time coming to terms with the fact that Satan is, in fact, real and very much working against humanity. I was basically deciding to follow beliefs that directly opposed my old ones.

But when I accepted it, the weight I was carrying felt so much lighter. It felt like I could finally admit I was broken and needed Jesus to help me.

This isn’t the only stubborn belief I held onto… I had many others that the world shares as well. A few months after surrendering to Jesus, I started feeling really convicted about fully supporting any/all political groups and their agendas. For my first draft for this article, I had so much to say about this particular conviction that I’m going to make a separate article about it!

So, stay tuned… It’s going to be called “Stop Idolizing Your Political Party.”

Anyways, back to the main idea, if you are going to follow Jesus, it is imperative that change comes along with it. This change will not occur the second you come to Jesus; it will take time. Jesus literally calls us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses DAILY, and follow Him (Luke 9:23).

We cannot stay set in our stubborn ways… if we want to follow Jesus, we have to follow Him the whole way.

We cannot be lukewarm Christians; we cannot pick and choose Bible verses to follow. We must follow Him fully in His way every single day. We are called to shed off beliefs that are holding us back from Him. We are called to leave behind what has dragged us down beforehand.

As Jesus said, “Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering” (Matthew 12:30).

I know this is pretty intense, but that is what it means to follow Jesus. Yes, it is comforting to be in His light, but we also have to accept that shedding old beliefs and embracing new ones may be uncomfortable.

Nobody really talks about this, but sometimes it is HARD to let go of beliefs and opinions you’ve held so dearly for your whole life. It is hard to live for Christ in a world that strives to live for individual happiness.

Yes, people are not always going to agree with us for following Christ, and many will not take our beliefs lightly, but we’ve got Jesus to lean on.

So what’s the main idea?

Please do come as you are to Him. It doesn’t matter what you’ve been through. Maybe you have an addiction, or have hurt someone on a deep level, or you don’t think you’re ‘Christian’ material.

That will never stop Jesus from loving you and saving you. He can do what is seemingly impossible to you. But you also must accept that you have to change, for the better.

Again, this does not happen within minutes.

Pray to the Lord, ask Him to help you surrender and guide you in His everlasting way.

Ask Him to convict you of those beliefs or behaviors that are keeping you from Him.

If you are serious about Jesus, He will change you in the best way possible.

He changed me, and I used to mock him heavily.

So yes, come as you are, but don’t stay as you are.

© Sienna Krieg