I’m on spiritual retreat at the Hermitage in Mittagong at the moment, reflecting on what 45 years of following Jesus and his Way have taught me about faith and discipleship. Here’s some of what those years have taught me. Maybe it’ll encourage others on the Way.
1. Prayer gets quieter with the years, and simpler but richer. What started as long lists of requests has become sitting with Jesus, listening more than speaking, trusting he knows my heart before I find the words.
2. Knowing Jesus personally is the whole point. I’ve spent decades reading theology, and Jesus still meets me fresh in ways that make all my knowing feel like a rumor of the real thing.
3. Scripture keeps opening up. The same psalm I read at twenty reads me differently at fifty-six. Slow, repeated reading over a lifetime keeps yielding fresh fruit.
4. Forgiveness is the work of years. The wound I thought I’d dealt with comes back, and I forgive again, each layer going deeper, until grace finally reaches the bottom.
5. Faithfulness shows up in small, repeated choices. Most of discipleship is just showing up for ordinary days.
6. Suffering has been my teacher. Grief, failure, loss. I’d trade none of it. Character grows in that soil, and so does intimacy with Jesus.
7. The local church is where I’ve been formed. Committed presence in flawed communities over decades has shaped me more than any conference or book.
8. Hurry is spiritually corrosive. Slowing down has been one of the hardest and most important lessons of my life.
9. Humility grows through my own failures met by Christ’s patience. I’m more gracious and kinder with people now because I’ve been carried so many times myself.
10. God’s love holds steady. I’ve finally stopped being surprised that Jesus still wants me. His love is wider and more patient than younger faith dared to believe.
11. Death has lost its sting through long communion with Jesus. I face it now with a peace that would’ve stunned my younger self.
12. Gratitude has become my native air. Thanksgiving shows up unbidden in ordinary moments.
13. Silence and solitude are oxygen. The noise of the world drowns out the still small voice, and I guard quiet time fiercely now.
14. Hidden faithfulness shapes me most deeply. The prayers no one hears, the kindnesses no one sees, the integrity held when no one’s watching. That’s where character sets.
15. Sabbath is a gift I’ve learned to receive. The weekly rhythm of rest trains me to trust that God keeps the world running while I sleep. Honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy for worship and relationship is something I’ve learnt to treasure.
16. Surrender is the work of a lifetime. I’ve handed over career, children, health, ambition, reputation, and discovered Jesus was holding them all along.
17. Relationships are the real harvest. My wife, kids, close friends, colleagues, church, and more. They’re what I give thanks for most.
18. The simple gospel remains the deepest. “Jesus loves me, this I know” is the wisdom of the nursery and the deathbed, and the years in between are spent learning to actually believe it and live into it.
19. Mentoring the young is pure joy. Pouring out what I’ve learned keeps my own faith alive.
20. Abiding is the whole secret. John 15 keeps getting more central. Stay close to Jesus, keep the connection open, and the fruit takes care of itself. Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches (we aren’t the vine), so I must remain connected and dependent on him.
21. It really has all been about Jesus himself. Not the movement, not the cause, not even “Christianity” as a system. Him. The person. Everything else flows from keeping my eyes on his face.
22. Jesus’ Way is narrow, and it’s life. The path he walked, the way he taught, the kingdom values he embodied. I’ve kept coming back to this one road, and it has carried me.
23. Other paths have called to me over the years, and most looked attractive. Career success as identity, political tribes as belonging, spiritual fads or compromise dressed up in Christian or spiritual language. Each one led somewhere smaller than where Jesus was leading me.
24. Staying on the Jesus Way means saying no to a hundred good things to keep saying yes to him. The pull to turn aside is constant, and the daily decision to keep walking with him is everything.
25. Jesus is worth it. Forty-five years in, I can say with my whole chest: following Jesus on his Way is the best thing I’ve ever done with my one life. He’s better than I imagined when I started, and I’ve barely scratched the surface.
If you’re earlier on this Way, take heart. Jesus is faithful. Keep walking.
New Book
Graham Joseph Hill. Ten Movements of the Jesus Way: Shifting from Worldly Self-Interest to Radical Discipleship. InterVarsity Press, July 2026. Preorder here: https://www.ivpress.com/ten-movements-of-the-jesus-way
About This Series
This post is part of The Jesus Way, a weekly blog series exploring the ten movements that shape a life of following Jesus. Each movement traces a path the Gospels invite us to walk: from the patterns the world rewards toward the life Jesus actually lived and taught.
The series builds toward the release of my book, The Ten Movements of the Jesus Way, coming from InterVarsity Press on 28 July 2026. If you’d like to follow the full journey, you can subscribe to receive each new post as it’s published.
Preorder “The Ten Movements of the Jesus Way” here: https://a.co/d/004aPGwi
