There was a time when I thought walking with God meant being perfect. Always doing the right thing. Never slipping up. It felt like God was hovering over my shoulder, clipboard in hand, tracking every move I made. I thought that was what it meant to walk with God: strict obedience, constant judgment, and very little grace.

But I don’t see it that way anymore.

These days, walking with God feels more like walking with peace. And that peace isn’t based on perfection—it’s rooted in forgiveness. It’s grounded in the presence of a God who knows every fault and still chooses to stay. I’m no longer living under the pressure of proving myself to God. I’m learning to live in response to His grace.

It doesn’t mean I always get it right. It doesn’t mean I never mess up. It means that even when I do, I’m not walking alone. God is there—in the mistakes, in the doubts, in the daily choices that make up a life.

When My Walk With God Shifted

A few years ago, something hit me: I was spending all this time listening to books about the Bible—pastors, devotionals, studies—but I hadn’t really read the Bible for myself. Not all the way through. Not cover to cover. I knew the quotes, the stories, the greatest hits… but I didn’t know the full narrative.

That realization stirred a conviction. If I really wanted to know God, I needed to hear from Him directly.

So I switched gears. I downloaded an audio version of the Bible and committed to listening all the way through. During a long road trip from Florida to Indiana and back, I binged huge portions of Scripture. And over the following months, I made it through the whole Bible.

It changed me.

I recognized verses I’d heard all my life and saw them in their true context. I noticed patterns, themes, and the incredible consistency of God’s heart from Genesis to Revelation. I started to actually know God’s character. Not just secondhand. Not just from a sermon. But directly from His Word.

And that changed how I walked with Him. I no longer felt like I had to earn my spot at His table—I realized I was already invited. The Bible stopped feeling like a rulebook and started feeling like a conversation.

From Guilt to Grace

For a while, that deep dive into the Word led to something intense. I became consumed by it—in a good way, mostly. But I also started feeling guilty anytime I wasn’t focused on God. Watching a regular show on Netflix? Guilty. Going out to dinner and not talking about Jesus? Guilty. Laughing with friends about something “secular”? Guilty.

I thought if I wasn’t constantly doing something spiritual, I was failing God.

But through prayer, Scripture, and mentorship (shoutout to my friend and Bible teacher from Daystar), I began to understand something deeper: walking with God isn’t about performing. It’s about presence.

God doesn’t require me to be in a 24/7 state of religious activity. He wants me to know Him. To talk to Him. To filter my decisions through His truth. To bring Him into my day, not out of guilt, but out of relationship.

Now I realize—it’s not a sin to think about something else. It’s not wrong to enjoy a moment with my wife or my kids without reciting Scripture in my head. It’s not about excluding God from life’s joys—it’s about including Him in the ordinary.

What It Looks Like Today

Walking with God, for me, looks like this:

• Filtering decisions through a Biblical lens. Not in a rigid, rule-based way, but in a way that asks: Does this align with who God is and who He wants me to be?
• Avoiding obvious missteps, like if someone invited me to a strip club for a birthday party. That’s not even a question. I decline. Respectfully, but firmly. If they ask why, I tell them: “It doesn’t align with my faith.”
• Spending time with Him daily, even if it’s just in thought, reflection, or conversation. Sometimes it’s prayer with my eyes closed. Sometimes it’s a silent, in-my-head dialogue while I’m driving.
• Immersing in Scripture, whether that’s reading, listening, or attending my weekly Bible class.
• Serving where I can, through writing, encouragement, or acts of service in my community or church. Even these blog posts are part of that.
• Talking with others about what God has done for me. That could be through writing, sharing a testimony, or having a one-on-one conversation with someone who’s curious or hurting.

It’s less about doing things for God and more about doing life with God. When I go to church, it’s not to check a box. It’s to be in the presence of God’s people. When I pray, it’s not to earn points—it’s to stay connected. When I serve, it’s not out of obligation—it’s out of love.

A Relationship, Not a Resume

You don’t earn your way into walking with God.

He doesn’t want your checklist.
He wants your heart.

And while our time here on earth isn’t the full union we’ll one day experience in heaven, it is a preview. It’s engagement before the wedding. And just like any engagement, it’s built on trust, communication, and time spent together.

Walking with God means living in a state of ongoing surrender and awareness. It’s recognizing that He is with me—not just in my Bible class or church service, but at my kitchen table, in my morning commute, during stressful work meetings, and in the quiet late-night moments when I can’t sleep.

I’m not perfect in this. My prayers are often short. My distractions are many. But my desire is real.

I want to know God more. And I want to reflect Him more. I want my thoughts, my actions, and even my habits to be shaped by Him—not out of pressure, but out of pursuit. Not to impress, but to abide.

To me, that’s what it means to walk with Him.

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