I Believe

“I Believe” began with an image I could never shake — Jesus willingly crawling onto the cross. Over twenty years ago, while working as a graphic designer, I watched The Easter Experience by City on a Hill Productions, and their portrayal of the crucifixion changed me. Instead of being forced down, Jesus dragged His wounded, blood-covered body toward the cross by choice. That quiet, devastating willingness — that act of love — stayed with me for decades. This song was written from that memory, from that raw moment where the sacrifice becomes deeply personal.

The lyrics walk through the tension we all feel: the worries of the day, the mistakes we keep making, the shame we try to hide. Yet even in that place, the song looks back to the journey “from manger to the cross,” reminding us that He was the holy Lamb who chose to be sacrificed. The line “You wore the thorns and took the stripes” points directly to 1 Peter 2:24, where Scripture says that by His stripes — the wounds from the lashes on His back — we are healed. It’s a reminder that every blow, every thorn, every step toward the cross was taken intentionally, for us. The chorus then becomes a declaration: They say You died for me. You say You love me. And I believe.

By the time the bridge arrives, the song becomes a moment of surrender — kneeling before a King with nothing to offer but a willing heart. “I Believe” holds that tension between our smallness and His immeasurable grace. It’s a confession of faith rooted not in emotion but in the truth of what He did: He bore our sin, our shame, and our brokenness. The song invites the listener into that same intimate place of belief, to remember the cost, to feel the weight of His love, and to say with full conviction: I believe.