Personal Discipleship
Luke 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Personal discipleship is where it all begins but we must keep in mind that this is never where it ends. There is always a greater good that is outside of yourself in the kingdom of God. Our ultimate goal must be to glorify God through discipling others with what we have learned. In saying that, there must be a starting point. There is ground work that must be done, and that takes dedication and desire. The thing about desiring to grow in your sanctification, holiness, and knowledge of God, is that it must, and I emphasis again . . . it must start with a great love for Christ! A love of Christ will cause you to want to know more and more about Him. In turn, when you love Him and you know more about Him it will cause you to want to share your knowledge and love for Him with others. Discipleship should never be a solo act, and you should be a part of a local body in order to do this correctly. I understand that some people do not have access to good teaching in their areas of the world, and that is why we have this section of discipleship on this website. Nevertheless, you must belong to a church, even if you have to travel to find one.
Discipleship must start with a great love for Christ which is a result of being grateful for the work He has done on your behalf. Gratitude and love will drive you to want to learn. Learning has to get from your head and into your heart will it will create action in where you begin to be shaped more and more into the image of Christ and want to share that with others. The idea here is that you take what you learn and share it with one on one discipleship with other people. This can be done on a lunch break, at a coffee shop on the weekends, or in your home. One of the things that is great and different with Christianity from all false religions is that we have no secrets. It is my goal to teach you all that I understand and know, likewise you must do the same with other people. The love of Christ cannot be bottled up, it must be shared. The love for Christ is what should drive you into a deeper and richer understanding of the things we will get into.
Another thing you should understand is that all Christians are on a journey. Not everyone is at the same location in that journey. It is easy to confuse immaturity in Christ with having no relationship with Christ. For some people that struggle is individual and for others it is a struggle observing other peoples walk with God. In either case, it is easy to get frustrated and loose assurance of salvation personally or question other peoples walk. We will get into assurance of salvation in these lessons, but for now understand this: no one is where they desire to be on their journey of progressive sanctification. I should say, not true Christian anyway. Some have only begun and only made a few steps. Others have walked many miles. Understand that the Holy Spirit is who propels you on our journey. He is who gives us the desire to grow in our Christlikeness. So be patient with yourself and be patient with others, yet remain hungry.
