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“So what am I gonna say? ‘I’m not giving my life to God… for a boy’?”
That was the thought running through my head in the middle of a home Bible study, nineteen years old, put on the spot. It ended up being the moment that changed the entire trajectory of my life.
I gave my life to Jesus at nineteen, on my way to the club might I add. You kno the way nineteen-year-olds do 😂. I was also fresh off a breakup, and if I’m honest, part of me wanted to look good that night just in case I ran into him. (We listen and don’t judge.)
A friend invited me to a prophetic prayer meeting, promising we’d hit the club right after. That meeting ended up getting canceled. Instead, I got invited to a home Bible study and decided to give it a try. After the study and prayer, the gentleman leading it looked right at me and asked, “Would you give your life to God?”
You could’ve heard a pin drop in that room. But in my head? It was loud. I was scrambling for a good enough reason to say no. My mind was racing and I thought, “Am I really about to say I’m not giving my life to God… for a boy I’m not even with anymore?” That didn’t hold up. So instead hesitantly, I said yes.
I had absolutely no clue that yes would change my life. But it did.
And yet when I walked out of that Bible study I felt unchanged. Nothing looked different. My hair looked the same. My situation looked the same. My troubles and my temptations were still there. That’s exactly what led me into years of backsliding & questioning my own salvation.
Why Do We Doubt Our Salvation?
If you’ve ever found yourself questioning your salvation, I want you to know upfront, you are not alone. It certainly does not mean something is wrong with you.
What we often do not realize is change is happening the moment you get saved. It’s just not the kind of change you can see with your eyes.
Case and point. There’s a moment in John 3 where a religious leader named Nicodemus comes to Jesus with questions, and Jesus tells him unless he is born again, born of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus is confused. Jesus explains this isn’t a physical birth. It’s a spiritual one:
“The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”
—John 3:8
Jesus was spitting pure fact. We don’t see the wind. That doesn’t mean the wind doesn’t exist. We don’t see God. We don’t hear an audible voice. But we know He’s real.
But that’s what trips us up: everything else “new” in our life, we can see. New car? You see it. New baby? You see it. But when you give your life to Christ, nothing visibly changes on the outside. And because there’s no visible change, we start to doubt whether anything happened at all.
How Do I Know If I’m Saved?
So let’s answer the real question you came here for: how do I know if I’m saved? Here are the main signs you are saved, and it’s literally as easy as A, B, C.
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
—Romans 10:9–10
A — Accept.
You accept the fact that Jesus is Lord. Not just a good teacher, not just a nice guy from history who said some wise things. You accept Him as Lord over your life. That means Lord over your decisions, your Friday nights. Over everything. That’s one third of the way there.
B — Believe.
You believe with your whole heart, not just your head, that Jesus died for your sins and rose again on the third day. This isn’t head knowledge. This is heart conviction. There’s a difference between knowledge and belief, and belief is what’s required for salvation.
C — Confess.
You confess it out loud, with your mouth—that Jesus is Lord, and that you need Him.
If you did all three at any point in your life, accepted it, believed it, confessed it, that’s it. Those are the signs you are saved.
Prime example, The thief on the cross. In Luke 23:39–43, there’s a moment on the cross where Jesus is dying next to two criminals. One mocks Him. The other turns to Him and says, “Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” And Jesus tells him, today, you will be with Me in paradise.
This man was a thief. This was his very last breath. And in that breath, he accepted and he believed. Not after he cleaned himself up. Right there, on the cross, in his very last moments. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. What matters is that you accept it, you believe it, and you confess it.
Can You Lose Your Salvation If You Mess Up?
I get this question all the time, and I want to be really clear…if you’ve made a mistake since giving your life to God, that does not mean you’re not saved. You cannot lose your salvation because of a mistake. What you’re feeling in that moment isn’t lost salvation, it’s doubt, plain and simple. (We’ll dig deeper into that in a future post so make sure you’re on the email list so you don’t miss it.)
But if you’ve made a mistake, it’s as simple as this: repent. And repenting isn’t just saying “I repent.” It’s changing direction. It’s not a phrase. It’s a turn.
So wherever you are right now, think about the thing in your heart you know you need to turn from. You don’t have to say it out loud. God already knows. Let’s just take a moment and pray.
Father, I come to You right now, just as I am.
I thank You for loving me enough to send Your Son to die for me, and for raising Him from the dead.
Lord, I confess that I’ve turned away from You in ways I know, and in ways only You see. Right now, I turn my heart back to You.
I accept You as Lord. I believe in my heart that You rose from the dead. And I confess with my mouth, Jesus, You are Lord over my life.
Thank You for saving me not because of what I’ve done, but because of what You already did.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
If you prayed that prayer with me, I’m so proud of you. And if you’re still questioning your salvation, still asking “how do I know if I’m saved?”. I get it. That was me too. It doesn’t disqualify you. It just means you’re human.
Until next time,
Be strong. Be Courageous. Serve God Wholeheartedly.
P.S. I wrote a book for new believers who are struggling in their walk with God, because as you can see here, I was stuck for years too. I put everything I know into a practical guide just for you called Deep Roots. It’s about growing and getting deeper in your walk before you drift. If any of this is resonating with you, there’s a lot more where this came from.
