Why Do People Struggle to Believe in Jesus?

“Why do people have a hard time believing in Jesus?”

That’s a good question, Sawyer. It reminds me of the beginning of the book of John.

A man named John the Baptist began preaching the gospel, telling everyone that he was preparing the way for Christ to come to them. And Christ did come—finally, the one who had been promised all the way back in Genesis 3:15!

The people should have been overjoyed, right? Some certainly were, but not all of them. Many refused to believe that he truly was God’s Son, instead letting fear, hatred, and jealousy build up in their hearts. John 3:19–20 helps us understand why.

People who love their sin don’t want Jesus because he exposes their sin, whether they realize it or not. We have all sinned and deserve eternal death because of it (Romans 6:23), and John 8:34 tells us, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” We need Jesus to set us free from sin and its consequence. But many people don’t realize that their sin is deadly (instead thinking, “It’s not really that bad”), and they don’t want to submit to God in repentance. Satan’s lies blind them.

Now, there may also be other reasons why a person has a hard time believing in Jesus. In fact, kindly asking your non-Christian friend, “Why do you think it’s hard for you to believe in Jesus?” could be a great way to get to know them better and start a conversation about the gospel. Maybe they know that if they believe in Jesus, their life will get harder because their family does not believe. Perhaps they feel that parts of the Bible are too confusing for them to understand and accept right now. Maybe they have been taught another religion their whole life, so that’s just what they know best.

But no matter what the reasons may be, our responsibility remains the same: to tell them what Jesus did for them by dying on the cross and rising again (see John 3:16), and to pray for them to be saved. You see, while the book of John tells of people who rejected Jesus, it also tells of people who followed him. John 1:35–46 says this:

I love these verses and think we should follow the disciples’ examples. When John told Andrew who Jesus was, Andrew followed Jesus. And when Jesus called Philip to follow him, Philip obeyed. And what did Andrew and Philip do next? They went and told someone else that Christ had been found, and they brought that person to meet him.

My prayer is that you and I respond in the same way that Andrew and Philip did. May we say to God, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you” (even if it is hard). And then may we say to others, “Hey, I found Jesus; let me introduce you to him.”

Do you have a question about the Bible? Ask your parents to help you submit your question today. We’d love to hear from you!