How to Live a Gospel-Shaped Life of Depending on Jesus
Grounded in the Gospel part seven. Ten suggestions to help you live by grace.
When I became a Christian, I was saved by grace. I heard the Gospel—the news that God put on flesh in the person of Jesus, died my death on the cross for me, and rose from the dead so that I could be forgiven of my sins and have a restored relationship with God the Father for eternity—and I placed my trust in Jesus by faith to receive that grace. Many Christians have similar testimonies of when they received God’s grace for the first time, but something that perhaps garners less attention is the need we Christians have to cling to that same grace for the rest of our lives—daily. We need Jesus just as much today as we did back then. We need Jesus just as much tomorrow as we do today.
What I’d like to do is to paint a picture of what living by grace looks like, what a Gospel-shaped life looks like. A life that consistently depends on Jesus is a Gospel-shaped life.
My personal observation is there’s a common pattern in the life of a believer. I call this pattern “the grace cycle.” The grace cycle goes like this:
Love/appreciation for God’s grace.
We experience genuine transformation that has fruit.
Life gets hard, we struggle, we sin, we fail…we need God’s grace again.
So we cry out to God and He forgives us, sustains us, comforts us, and empowers us.
Repeat cycle.
There are a couple important things to note about the cycle of grace. First, the cycle is normal and is constantly on repeat because of the already-not-yet of the Kingdom of God and our salvation. Second, the cycle continues even as we grow in Christian maturity. We are always growing. Embrace your need for Jesus and embrace the grace cycle. We won’t outgrow the grace cycle until Jesus comes back. Third, our willingness and desire to depend on Jesus ultimately comes from a place of worship.
So, here are some practical suggestions on how to live a Gospel-shaped life of depending on Jesus. It might be worth pausing here for a moment to reflect for yourself: how do you depend on Jesus?
#1: EMBRACE BEING WEAK SO THAT YOU CAN BE STRONG
The practical suggestion here is to embrace an overall mindset that is quintessential of following Jesus, which is to be weak in yourself so that you can be strong in Jesus. One of the reasons we need to be proactive about this mindset is we are uncomfortable with weakness. We prefer to rely on ourselves, to “try harder,” and to be hyper focused on our behavior or performances. Grace, on the other hand, is freely given, freely received.
Jesus told us that apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:4-5). We cannot manufacture love on our own. We cannot produce joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control from our own self reservoirs. Those fruits come from Holy Spirit who produces Christlikeness in us. When your mindset is ‘I can’t do anything,’ that’s actually a good mindset. A better more specific version of that mindset is, ‘I can’t do anything good or helpful in my own strength.’ When we are strong in ourselves, then Jesus can’t be strong for us. When we are weak in ourselves, we can tap into Jesus’ strength.
The strongest Christians I know—the ones that ooze Jesus—are the ones who I see ferociously cling to Jesus because they know how strong Jesus is. They are ruthlessly aware of how weak they are apart from Him, but they activate their faith in depending on Jesus to do what they cannot do for themselves. The biblical principle behind this type of spiritual strength is: the power of God’s grace is made perfect in our weakness (2Corinthians 12:9). The paradox of Christian living is we can’t live the Christian life, but we can through grace, through Christ in us who strengthens us. So, the quicker you admit “I can’t,” the better. Let Jesus be your strength.
#2: ASK THE LORD FOR HELP
How do we go from weak to strong? Ask Jesus for help. This might seem overly simplistic or obvious, but this step is non-negotiable. It can be surprisingly hard to ask for help. You must ask. Ask Jesus for help. Tell Him “Jesus I need your help. I need you.” You must go to Him. The Lord loves to meet us where we are at. The Lord loves to help us when we ask (Matthew 7:7-11). Will we be humble enough to ask? We have not because we ask not (James 4:2). Asking for help is a very humbling thing. It demonstrates our need. It demonstrates we have faith in the Lord. We wouldn’t be asking Him for help if we didn’t believe He is both able and faithful.
I remember vividly a specific morning about eight years ago. I was stressed and anxious that morning, and as I was walking through a public hallway at work on my way to my workstation, I stopped and had a sudden epiphany: ‘I can’t do this.’ It was a sudden admittance that I was unable to do what I was about to do. I couldn’t fake a smile, and I couldn’t shake my attitude. I knew I could not endure the next eight hours behind my desk. There was just no way. And in one of those sincere organic prayers of the heart I asked the Lord, “Jesus, would you help me today?” I proceeded to have the best workday of my life. That entire day I was filled with joy and the love of Jesus for people as I served the patients in the clinic. All I did was bring my mess to Jesus. I asked for help with a sincere heart from a place of weakness, and the grace of God rushed onto the scene and met me exactly where I was.
#3: SPEND TIME AROUND OTHER BELIEVERS
Sometimes our connection with the Lord in prayer is on life-support. We go through stretches where it’s more difficult to stop in the hallways and pray to the Lord on the spot. We go through times of spiritual dryness where the Lord feels far away. During those times—more than ever—we need to be around other believers who can both fan the flame of our faith and prayerfully care for us. Members of the Body of Christ are gifts to one another. One of the ways we depend on Jesus is we depend on His Body. The Lord cares for us through His Body. Ask others for prayer. Let others comfort you or encourage you with the promises of God in scripture. Be involved in a small group or a Bible study, and go up to a prayer team member at the end of church. Being in a community that is hungry for Jesus will help you hang on to Jesus even when you don’t feel like it.
#4: READ THE BIBLE REGULARLY
There is arguably no better way to grow in your dependence on Jesus than to read the Bible regularly. Reading the Bible regularly with a hungry heart shows you believe you need God’s Word. Do you need God’s Word? If so, then read it.
The Word of God is supernaturally special because it is authored by God Himself (2Timothy 3:16). The Holy Spirit does things inside of us through the Word that nothing else and no one else can do. Reading the Word regularly keeps us healthy, keeps us humble, reminds us who God is, reminds us who we are, and helps put the grace of God at our fingertips. If you want to get the grace of God moving in your life, read the Word. One of the ways we depend on Jesus is to feed on His Word. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God,” (Deuteronomy 8:3, Matthew 4:4).
#5: CONFESS SIN BY CLINGING TO THE WORD
Living by grace involves going back to the cross and reminding yourself what happened on the cross. And you need the Word of God to do that. Our feelings and experiences speak loudly, but the Bible speaks louder. What do you do if you sin badly? What do you do if the lusts of the flesh and the ways of the world occasionally suck you in? What do you do when the devil whisper lies that accuse of you of XYZ? I hope the answer has to do with going to God in relationship, talking to Him, confessing your sins to Him, and applying the truth of the cross to your situation. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” (1 John 1:8). “But if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins…” (John 2:1-2).
We should be broken and disgusted with our sin. But we need not remain in guilt and shame because we have Jesus. Go to the foot of the cross and confess your sin to the one who secured your forgiveness and whose blood covers every sin you’ll ever commit. A major part of living by grace is being able to take the step from guilt and shame to a clean conscience that says, ‘I’m forgiven and covered in the blood,’ (Hebrews 9:4). Faith is how you take that step. Confession happens because you have faith. You can rest in God’s grace because you know through the Word that Jesus died for you. God promises to cleanse you if you bring Him your sin. The cross can never be undone. God is faithful, even when we are not. When we store up in our heart what the Word says about the cross, then when trials come, the Word of God will be there to help us in our time of need.
#6: PUT ON YOUR IDENTITY IN CHRIST
Why does being in Christ make a difference in our capacity to live transformed lives? The answer has to do with the finished work of the cross. The power of the cross is that our old self who was a slave to sin was crucified with Christ on the cross (Romans 6:6). It’s done. You are no longer a slave to sin. “For one who had died has been set free from sin,” (Romans 6:8). You are free from the reign and the dominion of sin as a force that dominates you. In other words, because you are in Christ, Christ is stronger to you than sin is. The truth is, because you are in Christ, you are a new creation who walks in the newness of resurrection life (Romans 6:4, 1Corinthians 5:17) and is empowered by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:11).
It can be challenging to believe all this especially right after you’ve sinned badly, but that’s the challenge of faith. What speaks louder? Our experience and feelings? Or what God says? Dying to sin and being alive to God is possible when we believe the truth that we have died to sin and have been raised to newness of life because of what Christ did (Romans 6:11). Christ died your death, and His life is now your life. You are different now. The determining factor of your experience in daily life is what Christ did, not what you’ve done.
One of my seminary professors once said during a lecture, “The Christian life is becoming what we already are.” If we trust Jesus by faith, then we are in Christ and Christ is in us. The challenge is—and this is what I think my professor was getting at—is to choose to live according to the new life. We are told multiple times in the New Testament to “put on” Christ or to “put on” the new man (Romans 13:14, Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10).
Years ago, there was a couple week stretch of time at work where I kept a handful of stuck-together post-it notes in my front shirt pocket. On those post-it notes I had written truth reminders aimed at helping me put on and apply my identity in Christ in the midst of challenges at work that had been affecting my attitude. I’m going share with you what I wrote down.
Post-it #1: “My contentment comes from you Lord. My attitude is determined by you Lord. I am loved by you and have been given new life by you. I am your son. My attitude/mind of Christ affects my circumstances.”
Post-it #2: “My circumstances do not affect my mind because I have the mind of Christ. I am in you Lord and you are in me.”
Post-it #3: “I don’t have the right to think like a man, because I have been bought by the blood of Jesus to think like Him…for His mind to be my mind.”
Post-it #4: “I don’t have the right to evaluate myself or others because that’s His right. Be wary of self-perspective. Self-perspective is a door for lies. Do not evaluate my circumstances.”
Post it #5: “Give thanks. Thank you, Father, for choosing me. Thank you for pouring yourself into me, making me one of your own.”
Post-it #6: “My spirit is one with you Holy Spirit, and we have control over my mind. My mind is in obedience to you God. Period.”
I remember taking those post-its out of my front shirt pocket and flipping through them multiple times throughout each day whenever I felt a specific bad attitude pop back up. They helped me put on my identity in Christ when I really needed it. That’s an example of something that worked for me in that particular situation. You might have your own things you do to help put on and keep on your identity in Christ.
#7: FIND FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST ALONE
Closely related to knowing and applying your identity in Christ is finding satisfaction and fulfillment in Him compared to other things. How much money or debt you have, how big a house you have, how competent you are at your job, how many friends you have, how good you’re doing or not doing at loving your spouse, how good of a parent you are, how well you are doing at physical exercise and diet—none of these things determine your worth or status before God. None of those things determines whether God loves you. None of those things give you eternal rest. Only Jesus does. The challenge of faith is to be content in the grace of God, to be content in Jesus and Jesus alone. All those things do matter, but they don’t matter more than Jesus and the cross.
#8: GIVE THANKS WHEN YOU’RE ON THE MOUNTAINTOP
If we don’t depend on Christ when times are good, how will be able to depend on Him when times are bad? Something as simple as giving the Lord thanks for His creation as you hike through a state park is something that cultivates dependence on Him. We can’t even take our next breath if it wasn’t for His grace. All good gifts come from above (James 1:17).
#9: BE BOLD FOR JESUS
We Christians have the mission of making disciples of Jesus, which involves of proclaiming the name of Jesus and sharing the Gospel. This is not an easy task, especially when persecution is promised (John 15:20). The only reason why we can boldly tell people about Jesus and courageously live the Jesus way instead of the worldly way, is if God Himself empowers us. And that’s exactly what He does. The Bible indicates that one of the purposes of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is for power to be a witness (Acts 1:8). Throughout the book of Acts we see examples of men and women being filled with courage, boldness, and power from the Holy Spirit to evangelize by word and deed.
The challenging thing is sometimes we don’t experience the boost of the Holy Spirit’s power until we take the first step of putting ourselves out there. Power from on high to lift up the name of Jesus is there when we need it. The question is whether we put ourselves in situations where we need it. Another challenge is the real hardship of persecution. Throughout the world there are Christians that are threatened with the choice to denounce Jesus or be killed on the spot. I’ve heard several stories in the last couple years of children courageously refusing to denounce the Lord Jesus, who are then are killed instantly by radical extremists in front of a crowd of other Christians. Only the Holy Spirit can give courage like that. Part of that courage comes from the promise of our Lord Himself who said those who are persecuted because their faith in Him are “blessed” and will be especially taken care of in eternity (Matthew 5:10-12).
The only way to be bold for Jesus is to depend on Him.
#10: CLING TO JESUS IN YOUR SUFFERING
In addition to suffering related to persecution, suffering in general is a part of Christian living that frankly does not get talked about enough. We live in a broken fallen world. We face the mysterious consequences of sin and sinful humanity on a daily basis. We could come up with a pretty long list of unfortunate events that cause us to suffer—miscarriages, kids with cancer, living with debilitating diseases that leave you wheelchair bound or bed-ridden, a family member being unjustly killed, an abusive spouse, addictions—to name a few. We desperately need Jesus in the midst of all of this.
When it feels like everything is going wrong and everything good you had feels like it’s been taken away, you still have Jesus, and He is very near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). Believers have something that no one or no circumstance can take away from us: the presence of God. Even if we walk through the darkest valley, the Lord is with us to comfort us (Psalm 23:4). If you are in the middle of suffering right now, do not lose heart…“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal,” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Your suffering will not be forever. It will pass in time as God’s final steps of His great plan of redemption unfolds. In the meantime, the Lord Jesus is with you always (Matthew 28:20), and He will not leave you or forsake you (Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5). He sees you and He is with you.
When I think about the believers who are friends and family to me and who have been suffering for a long time—yet still lift their heads up daily and worship Jesus—it strengthens my own faith in the Lord. If that is you, please know that the testing of your faith has been producing steadfastness (James 1:2-4), your faith through testing brings honor and glory to our Lord Jesus (1Peter 1:6-7), and you are strengthening so many people because we see how good Jesus is at sustaining you.
CLOSING THOUGHT
So, how do you live by grace? Cling to Jesus. Savor Him. Commune with Him. Treasure what He says in His Word. Put on Christ. Go back to the cross again and again.
About the Author
Colin Rieke is a regular guy whose life was really messed up before finding wholeness in God’s grace through Jesus Christ. Colin is a writer/podcaster, loves having conversations with people about truth, and aspires to be a vocational pastor-theologian. Colin reads theology, church history, and biblical counseling books in his spare time for fun, and he is passionate about offering biblical solutions to people’s real life challenges so that they live healthy lives transformed by God’s grace. Colin became a Christian as an adult around the time he graduated from college with a BA in Philosophy, then he met his wife Rachelle at church, and they got married in 2016. Colin graduated from Phoenix Seminary with an MA in Christian Ministry in 2025.
