Have you ever been to a building with a long stairwell and thought “maybe I’ll just take the elevator”? I think we’ve all been there before, steps can get pretty strenuous. But what about when we apply this to our faith?

When you’ve decided that you’re ready to give your life to God but you still have worldly thoughts in mind, faith can begin to look a lot like one of those stairwells. The elevator to the top becomes pretty enticing, you start to think “it’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s efficient for me”. But this thought pattern often leads you to be one foot in when it comes to your faith. Faith is surely a commitment and while you can’t be one foot in, you will surely trip, stumble and fall on your way up those steps, but your climb to salvation doesn’t have to be flawless. Today, I’ll be sharing some pointers with you that may make that climb a bit clearer, and some things that I wish I had known when I started my journey to salvation.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”- 1 John 1:9

I remember being a teenager and thinking “I believe in God so therefore I am saved” with this mindset, I truly believed that I had done everything I needed to in order to be a Christian but this kind of thinking is a great example of “taking the elevator”. By choosing to take the elevator I avoided all of the important steps that I needed to take to truly live through Christ.

“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”- James 2:24

Fast forward to a couple of years ago, my life was in a pretty tight spot, nothing was going right, and to be honest, I was in shambles; this lead me to reach out to the Lord and own up to my past wrongs, doubts, and shortcuts. I expressed how I was ready to change myself and take the long way until I was who I needed to be. Looking back now, that version of me couldn’t have anticipated the forgiveness and grace that I would be shown by God. I had unknowingly already taken the first and biggest step to my salvation.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”- Isaiah 55:7

One by one the broken pieces in my life began to fix themselves, my problems were suddenly getting clear solutions, and paths were opening and giving me opportunities to follow them, I was graced with an overwhelming sense of relief and happiness, something I hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever. This relief and happiness was a part of God’s plan to make the steps ahead of me much easier to climb. The steps I needed to take in my life, and the steps that you need/needed to take in yours may look a bit different but I’m going to list some of mine and hope you can relate to or compare them to some steps in your life.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”- Proverbs 3:5-6

Some Important Steps to Salvation

• Turning selfishness to selflessness in order to live through Christ: With the peace I had found I was no longer so angry at the world and life itself, I wanted to show kindness to others any chance I got and I especially wanted to correct the times in the past when I was hateful towards people in my life. The biggest way of doing this for me was by DM’ing people who I previously had hurt or been unkind to and apologizing and owning up to my wrongdoing, not with the expectation of forgiveness from them, but for clarity, peace, and an ends to the resentment; after all, they did not owe me forgiveness. This required me to completely disregard my pride, and see the situation from another view, not from right or wrong or who did what, but owning up to the fact that at some point, I did do wrong. Doing this gave closure to painful parts of my life and allowed me to acknowledge that I had in fact changed and the new me was a stark contrast to the old one. I was proud of myself and I knew the Lord was proud as well.

” But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”– Luke 6:35

• Learning the word of God and building a steady relationship with Him: I wanted a way to connect with the Lord on a regular basis to avoid drifting away from Him, this is especially important when you’re early into your path to salvation because it’s the easiest point to get pulled away. I did this by reading a 365-day devotional with my husband which would include scripture, a story, and some questions afterward to engage you and start some conversations with yourself and/or a partner. This devotional was a reminder for us to live through God and addressed more ways to live through Him, such as how we speak to others, how we handle situations, and ways to improve ourselves while simultaneously building our relationship with God.
• Understanding the word of God: One thing that I struggled with when it came to religion was the word of God, I had seen so many misinterpretations and misquoting of bible verses that part of me believed Christianity was wrong in some ways, but instead of taking those things at face value I decided to seek out his word on my own because it didn’t add up to the loving God that I knew. I realized that once I read the verses myself with the help of a bible study guide, all of the evil and twisted verses that I had heard about weren’t there at all or were purposely misconstrued. If you hear about something like that on the internet, it’s always best to have a look for yourself before making a judgment, this applies to most things in life and almost everything on the internet.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables”- 2 Timothy 4:3

• Putting on the Armor of God: To put on the armor of God is to repent from sin, temptation, and evil, using your faith as protection. This is referenced in the bible and is an extremely powerful verse for those who stand strong in their beliefs; It is also the most important step when looking for salvation. By putting on the armor of God you are putting both feet in and making a statement to all evils that their works have no effect on you, and that you are strong in your belief, love, and passion for God. God will know your loyalty when you use your faith in His name to stand up against evil. Once you’re able to do this you will truly be a follower of God, and given that you continue to stand your ground, you will be forever saved by Him.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”- Ephesians 6:10-18

I hope this post helped you get a better understanding of the journey to being saved. Remember that you are strong, capable, and worthy of God’s love. God is accepting to all people of all backgrounds, you are always worth his time and forgiveness. Do not be ashamed or scared to take the first step to your salvation, The Lord is waiting for you with open arms, it’s up to you to accept him.