In order to make Jesus your Lord, you must be a child of God—one who has called on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to save you from your sins (Romans 10:13). As a child of God, you not only acknowledge that Jesus is Lord but lovingly submit to His authority over your life (Ephesians 5:24).
You can make Jesus Lord of your life by growing in Christian maturity. This is the process of sanctification, by which we learn to obey God more and more and become more like Jesus. We acknowledge Jesus as Lord of our lives in everyday decisions like forgiving those who sin against us (Matthew 18:21–25; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13), loving others (John 13:34–35; Colossians 3:12–17), speaking things that build others up (Ephesians 4:29), standing for truth (Ephesians 4:15), and the like. This is ultimately something accomplished by the Holy Spirit, but we can cooperate with His work in our lives and actively submit ourselves to God (James 4:7–10). We know Jesus is Lord of our lives when we seek to honor Him rather than to fulfill our own desires. We know He is Lord of our lives when we trust in Him rather than in ourselves. Jesus talked about the importance of abiding in Him in John 15. Abiding in Him is one way of saying He is Lord of our lives. We will fail, but when we do, we can submit to God by confessing our sins (1 John 1:9) so that we can remain in fellowship with Him. Confession is another way of acknowledging Jesus' lordship over our lives.
We can also recognize that God the Father has made Jesus Lord, not only over our lives, but over all of creation. The Father has highly exalted the Son by giving Him the name that is above every other name (Philippians 2:9). As the apostle Paul states in Colossians 1:15–20, "He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." All authorities, whether earthly or spiritual, are subject to the lordship of Jesus Christ. In the end, when Jesus has destroyed every rule, authority, and power (including death itself), He will deliver the kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24).
It is by faith that we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and it is by faith that we live our lives under His lordship. In the end, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord (Philippians 2:9–11; Romans 14:10–12).
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