Discipleship 101
In the book of Matthew we find a verse that is know as the Great Commission. It reads like this:
Matthew 28:19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
The Great Commission given by Jesus to His disciples was to go out into all of the nations of the world and make other disciples. The goal is for Christ followers to train others to follow Christ and so on and so forth until the world is filled with disciples!
But what does being a Disciple of Christ look like? Across the New Testament you can find 5 statements that explain some of the requirements of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. In this post I am going to write out all of them and explain them very briefly.
1. Can you deny yourself?
Matthew 16:24-25
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life[a]will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
Can you deny what you want for the sake of following Christ? That is the first requirement of being a Christ follower. We are to die to self and give up worldly and fleshly things that we want so that we can pursue Christ with all of our heart.
It is hard to make a disciple of others unless we are willing to deny ourselves of what we want including: our time, our money, our hobbies, and other resources.
We have to give it ALL to Christ to be able to follow Him fully!
2. Are you loyal to only Him?
Luke 14:26
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
What this means is that if you value anyone in your family more than you value following Jesus, then you cannot be an effective disciple.
We have to put our loyalty to following Christ to the forefront of our desires so that nothing can hinder our journey after Him!
And that leads to number 3.
3. Are you willing to die for Him?
Luke 14:27
"Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple."
If you know the story of Jesus Christ then you know that He died on a cross an agonizing death. Are you willing to do the same to follow after Him?
Does following Jesus matter more to you then even your own life? This is a difficult one because everyone is scared to die!
But a life sacrificed in the name of Jesus Christ is something to be proud of! There is not a more honorable death then a death for His name!
4. Do you abide in His word?
John 8:31-32
"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him,“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Abide in His word. You have to have an experience with Jesus Christ that comes from knowing Him. How do we know Him? By reading your Bible! That is where we meet Him and have a true experience with Christ.
You cannot lead someone to where you have never been. How can you help disciple Christ followers when you don't know Christ on a personal level? We HAVE to have that relationship or we are not disciples!
5. Do you love those around you?
John 13:35
"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
By THIS people will know you are His disciple. LOVE ONE ANOTHER!!!
Matthew 22:36-39
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him,“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love God and love others.
What if they are not Christians? Love them
What if they don't like me? Love them
What if they are homosexual? Love them
What if they reject me? Love them
What if they have a different skin color? Love them
We are called to love our neighbors. And who are our neighbors? Our neighbors are anyone that God has sent our way.. anyone we come in contact with. The very nature of Christ is LOVE and as Christ followers that is to be our nature as well.
There would be so much healing in this world if we would just follow this commandment and love all of the ones that God puts in our life.
There is a lot going on right now in our world. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember to love those around you. We can't change the world if we don't love the people in it.
These are just 5 requirements that Jesus gives us to be known as His disciples. I am making it my goal to strive towards these with everything in me and I hope you will join me!
Have a blessed week,
Ethan Corbett
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