“we repent enough to be forgiven, but do we surrender enough to be changed?” I heard this quote the other day and it hit me, does becoming a believer just merely consist of repentance, or does it come with surrendering ourselves to Him? It is one thing to admit your sin and seek forgiveness, but it is another to take up your cross daily and follow Him. I’m not going to get into the debate of if both aspects are needed to go to heaven, because I think our main concern of what makes us a believer does not merely come down to what gets us “in” to heaven, but rather we should strive to love God and do His will. When he is saying “take up your cross” he is saying to own and repent of your sins. And when he says “follow Me ” he is asking you to surrender, lay down, your whole life to him. We are called to do both of these things, not to secure a spot in heaven, but to give Jesus what we own Him, and we owe all things to Him because he gave His entire life for us.