Much of my Christian journey was spent trying to figure out how to grow, how to change, and how to stop doing the very things both God and I didn't want me to do. I longed to be in God’s will, to make a difference in His Kingdom, and to bring Him glory. So, I tried everything. I followed the advice of pastors, applied what I learned in Bible college, and listened to older, more experienced Christians. But nothing worked.

After years of struggle, I finally found the answer—and it’s simpler than I once thought. It’s not easy to accomplish, but it’s simple to understand.

I want to share what it takes to live a victorious Christian life by giving you a big-picture view—like looking at a map before a journey—so you can navigate the details as you go. However, I must warn you: there’s one thing that can throw you off course and make everything I’m about to say fruitless. I’ll explain that at the end.

What I’m about to share has no specific order—each part is essential, and they are all deeply connected. You can’t have one without the others if you truly want to live a victorious Christian life. I’m speaking to those who identify as Christians—those who have repented of their sins, turned to God, and desire to be part of His family.

I will highlight both the benefits of following these principles and the consequences of ignoring them:

Surrender

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:1-2)

Although a born-again believer has surrendered to God, true victory requires a daily surrender of the flesh—a continuous battle. It demands a steadfast commitment to lay down the flesh each day. Salvation is our initial surrender, but true transformation comes through a lifelong journey of yielding to God.

A practical way to understand this is through an illustration I once heard from a pastor: surrendering to God is like signing a blank check with your life, trusting Him to fill it with what is best and right. It’s essentially saying to God, "I’m all in, completely surrendered to You."

Repent

Many Christians view repentance as something reserved only for salvation, but it is also an ongoing process throughout the Christian life. Repentance goes beyond simply asking for forgiveness—it is deeper and more transformative. While asking for forgiveness is a request for God to pardon us for our sins, repentance involves a complete turning away from sin, a change of mind, and a transformation of behavior. It requires a change of heart and direction, not just a verbal request for forgiveness.

I am linking repentance to surrender because, in a sense, we must be dead to our sin. Too often, we take advantage of God's grace by asking for forgiveness, but inwardly, we are saying, "Sorry, God, for what I’ve done and what I plan to do again." But if we truly desire change, growth, and victory in our Christian walk, we must not only seek forgiveness but also repent—actively turning away from the patterns of sin and choosing to follow God's will with sincerity and commitment.

The Negative Impact

Imagine living with someone who brings nothing but grief—constantly leading you into wrongdoing, always complaining, selfish, and resistant to anything good. Eventually, you reach your breaking point and decide to walk away. You feel free and at peace. But then, your old "friend" shows up at your door, asking to come back—and you let them in.

This is what our faith looks like when we refuse to fully surrender. Without surrender, you carry your flesh with you, allowing it to fight against your faith. It’s leaving the door open for Satan to gain a foothold in your life.

Surrender means offering your mind, heart, actions, words, opinions, time, dreams, and desires to God, aligning them with His will. The old "me," my flesh, is dead—and with it, all those things die as well. I become a blank check, trusting God to fill me with everything I need and everything that is good for me. We are to be all about God.

Abide

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." (John 15:4)

Abiding means remaining, dwelling, and staying deeply connected to Jesus. It involves staying rooted in God’s Word, prayer, and obedience. But it also means persevering—sticking with Jesus no matter the circumstances. When persecution, struggles, and trials arise, we hold onto Jesus, patiently trusting that on the other side of our struggles, God is completing His perfect work in us (James 1).

James encourages us to ask God for wisdom in our trials, but it's important to ask for wisdom in each individual trial, rather than assuming one prayer will cover them all. God desires a continual relationship with us, one where we learn to lean on Him daily, rather than a relationship where we believe we can manage life on our own without His guidance.

Abiding also means that regardless of what the world values or lives for, we live for God and His kingdom. In everything we do, we must ask ourselves: How does this contribute to the Kingdom? How does this bring glory to God? Abiding means allowing God to create a roadmap toward our transformation and spiritual perfection.

The Negative Impact

Without abiding, our faith becomes fragmented—like a billion scattered puzzle pieces with no clear image. Only God knows how to assemble them, but without His guidance, we remain lost. Our understanding weakens, our strength fades, and the power of the Holy Spirit is stifled in our lives. As a result, we will bear little to no fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will be scarce, if present at all.

Without the roadmap that God is building within us, we will be lost and confused in our direction. Faith will become nothing more than well-intentioned guesses, hoping we’re on the path God has set for us.

Walk by Faith

"For we walk by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7)

It’s time to take action that follows faith—stepping out in trust, walking the path of faith, even when the path ahead seems uncertain. Walking by faith means trusting in God’s promises and obeying, even when we can’t see the outcome. It’s not blind faith because we have God’s roadmap and His spirit to lead us.

It’s the testing of our faith—the proof of its genuineness and maturity, or the lack thereof. It’s about living out our faith in the world, 24/7, learning how God sees things, how He works, and growing in trust as we witness Him come through.

The Negative Impact

We will lose sight of Jesus and the path He is leading us on. Instead of knowing He can and we cannot, our faith will be reduced to mere wishful thinking—hoping He will, but never certain that He will. Without perseverance, we won’t develop confidence in God or in our faith. We won’t see His power at work in our lives because we won’t stay the course long enough to experience His faithfulness. If we don’t build our ark, we won’t withstand the storms. Without true faith, we will remain powerless against Satan and sin, doubting the very truth that, in Christ, they no longer have authority over us (Romans 6:14).

If we don’t walk by faith, our Christian journey will become stagnant, leaving us empty and unfulfilled. Like idle hands searching for purpose, we may turn back to the world to fill the void. But the more we look to the world, the more we slip back into the very bondage that God once freed us from.

It’s a Must!

If we want to live victorious Christian lives, we must surrender, abide, and walk by faith—these are not optional; they are essential. You cannot neglect one without weakening the others. Without them, we remain spiritually immature, easily swayed, and unstable. Our faith will fall short of the vibrant, unshakable faith God calls us to in His Word. The danger of remaining a spiritual infant is not just missing out on God’s best—a deep relationship with Jesus and the life He intended for us—but something even greater. A baby Christian often resembles an unbeliever, leaving no assurance of salvation. And if there is no evidence of transformation, we must ask—was there ever true salvation to begin with?

The Fruitless Christian

Before coming to Christ, many feel an overwhelming burden—a deep exhaustion from chasing the world’s empty promises. The endless pursuit of meaning and fulfillment only leads to frustration, while pain and repeated struggles feel like running into the same unmovable wall. It’s often in this brokenness that people begin to question everything, including God’s existence, until they finally surrender and turn to Him as their only hope.

Many assume that once they come to faith, life becomes easy—just go to church, serve, pray, and everything will fall into place. But the reality is far different. Faith is not a shortcut to a trouble-free life; it’s the beginning of a journey that requires perseverance, surrender, and daily dependence on God.

If we refuse to surrender, abide, and walk by faith, God’s pressing will not cease. He will continue to break us until we fully yield to Him—because His desire is to shape us into who we were created to be. And this breaking has no limits. If we claim to love Him and long for His best, He will answer that prayer—even if it means refining us through trials until we truly submit.

How bad does it have to get before we actually fully surrender, abide, and walk by faith? That is up to us. We must let God break us, operate on us, so we must humbly lay down our lives to Him. Stop wrestling, stop justifying, ignoring, playing ignorant, compromising, and start choosing to actually surrender, abide, and walk by faith.

Most of us wish God would do the work for us—"Lord, help me stop wasting hours on the couch and start doing Your work." But God won’t force us. We must be willing to take action. Until we do, He will make that couch—and everything we turn to for comfort—feel empty, dry, and convicting.

Here’s the kicker

Most people assume that change happens simply by reading and memorizing God’s Word, believing His promises, or deciding to change. But trust me, it’s not that easy. If God's Word alone transforms you, that's incredible—but for most of us, real change takes more than repeated words and good intentions. If transformation were that simple, why would God need to press on us so much?

Asking someone to simply change is like telling a teenager to suddenly grow up and mature. In reality, that’s exactly what God is calling us to do—to grow up and become mature Christians. But how does a teenager truly mature? It happens when lessons, struggles, and knowledge align, guiding them to make wise decisions. Similarly, a Christian grows when God’s plan, His pressing, our exhaustion, and His wisdom all come together in our hearts and minds, transforming us.

Once you are fully surrendered, abiding, and walking by faith, victory will be yours. Until then, you will remain a victim of your own faith, much like a soldier returning from war with PTSD—tormented by the very battle God has already won. The struggle will continue to haunt you because, without fully embracing God's plan, you remain trapped in your own resistance.