Where to Start Personal Discipleship
Matthew 4:19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Obedience to God can only be on a long term and high level when you become a grateful person for what Christ has done for you. Gratefulness can only be genuine and life changing by understanding the gospel.
If anyone in the world has ever been grateful for anything, it should be the Christian. Jesus Christ, God Himself, planed from before the world was created to take on the nature of man, live the life that you cannot live, and go to the cross in you place so that you can have eternal life in a place that is far greater than our imaginations have the ability to understand. The grateful Christian will be an obedient Christian. Obedience, without gratefulness for the work of Christ on your behalf, is only Law, and that will only last for so long before you either become self-righteous or give up. All discipleship must come from the work of Jesus on your behalf or it must point to the work of Jesus on your behalf. Discipleship is really about holiness. God, being quoted in 1 Peter 1:16 says, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY." That is hard for us to swallow isn't it? The reality is that it is impossible for us . . . without the blood of Jesus Christ. When you become a Christian God no longer see's you . . . He see's Jesus who you are in, and He in you. This is the goal of your discipleship. This is what we will work toward helping you to understand.
Trying to be obedient to God will not last unless you have the desire to do so. The desire to do so comes from understanding the work of Christ on your behalf, being grateful for that work, and wanting to love Christ as He first loved you. Jesus said in Mark 12:30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ Understanding what love looks like is what will move you from a desire to be a disciple that fades after a few weeks to being a disciple that will last your entire life.
Love Jesus with all of your heart
What does it look like to love Jesus with all of your heart? Scripture refers to the heart as who you are, in simple terms. What is inside of you, what drives you, what influences you, what you think about, what makes you tick so to speak is what is in your heart. If you can take all of those things, all of what makes you up as a person, and Christ be the center of all of it, you will be loving Christ the way you need to be. We will talk more about this in the curriculum section.
Love Jesus with all of you soul
What does it look like to love Jesus with all of your soul? This is refereeing to spiritual things. The first thing you should ask is "do I love spiritual things?" If the answer is yes then you should make sure that you are loving the right spiritual things. Do you hungry and thirst for the things of God, for things eternal, for things unseen? We will talk more about this in the curriculum section.
Love Jesus with all of your mind
What does it look like to love Jesus with all of your mind? This deals with your conscience thought, knowledge, and reason, which requires a lifetime of study, intention, and devotion. We will get into this more in the curriculum section.
Love Jesus with all of your strength
What does it look like to love Jesus with all of your strength? Now we are getting into everyday life, rubbing shoulders with the world, and obedience to God. This is the ultimate goal for us to achieve during our short life here on earth, but you cannot love Jesus with all of your strength well until you love Him the first three ways mentioned first. We will get deeper in the curriculum section.
