Ever since I became a Christian, I have felt such a significant difference in my life. I've grown more and more to understand that God wants us to trust and follow Him for our own benefit and good. The Christian life is a journey of understanding and grasping that we really can trust our lives to God after all.

I've seen this change and these benefits in so many of my friends and family. As they entrust their lives to Jesus, and begin to turn and follow Him, they experience countless benefits. Some are extreme examples, leaving lifestyles of hatred towards God and destructive addictions. Others have more subtle shifts and changes, but the benefits and good that come to them in the gospel is vivid and astonishing.

There are so many benefits of following Jesus. Here are five:

1. You feel the weight of sin and shame lifted

There is an immediate effect of believing and recieving Christ - the sensation of the weight of sin and shame being lifted and completely removed from your heart and mind. It is not something anyone has to make up or explain to you. As you put your trust in Jesus and His gospel, and ask Him to forgive you for your sins, you actually and literally feel His forgiveness.

2. You sense the power of sin is broken

Sin and destructive patterns lose a great part of their luster once we believe in Jesus and recieve Him into our lives. Sin is still there, and Christians are not perfect, but ultimately, we don't crave it like we used to.

As the old song goes, "And the things of this world grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." 

3. God is with you

God promises us in the gospel that He will not only forgive and cleanse us, but also be with us.

There is instant access for those who trust in Jesus to the Presence and glory of God.

As we worship, pray, read the Scripture, walk in Christian community, we sense that we are not alone. And never will be again. 

4. Restored family and relationships

One of the powerful effects of the gospel is that it saves us from allowing our life to revolve around ourselves.

God shows us and empowers us in his cross how to pick up our own cross and live like Jesus did.

5. You see God's activity in your life

As our eyes open to the greatness of Jesus in the gospel, we begin to see and take notice of God's grace and activity in our lives in profound ways. We no longer relate and question a "God out there somewhere," but instead He is here, He is near, and He is at work in my life in mind boggling ways.

All this is available to every human being on earth through the gospel.

God loved you so much He sent His one and only Son to pay the sacrifice for your sins on the cross. He did this because we are not good enough on our own. We must stop trying to be good enough for God, and instead trust in His goodness for us in Jesus. Believe in what God has done for you, and begin to trust your life to Him and experience these countless benefits!