Good Morning
readers, I hope your staying warm in these frigid temperatures weve been having.
I hope to now be able to get back into a regular schedule of my blog, when I don’t
blog for numerous reasons I really miss it, its like a outlet for me, it’s what
God has placed on my heart to share with
you all. So with that being said Today’s topic is “Why is Discipleship so important to a Christian’s spiritual walk”?
A disciple is a follower
of Christ, so Discipleship is when
someone who is spiritually mature in their walk with Christ comes alongside an
individual who is not as far along in their walk and helps them grow in their spiritual
journey. Growing in the stages of spiritual maturity is a process, and this
blogs theme is not so much the emphasis of what those stages are, but why is
one on one discipleship important. I will mention the 5 stages of the spiritual
process, for those who do not know what they are.
1. Spiritually dead,
this refers to those who are not believers yet, and have not turned their life
over to Christ.
2. Spiritual infant-
a new believer, has accepted Christ, but needs a relationships with others who
know Christ, needs ongoing guidance, just like a infant does, relies on their
parent for for everything.
3. Spiritual Child-Has
gifts, but can be prideful and arrogant at times, sometimes does things for the
wrong reasons. Needs to be connected, still learning how to follow Jesus outside
the church.
4. Spiritual Young
Adult-Following and working alongside others and focused outward, but still
at times can think they know it all, strong in the Lord but can be naïve at
times, unrealistic and easily become discouraged when faced with failures., but
do have a place they feel called to serve!
5. Spiritual Parent-Not
perfect until Heaven, but serving, Sees that this life is not all there is, so
they have a Eternal perspective , they are
continually looking for opportunities to reach out and serve and find
others why they can minister to and guide them on their own spiritual walk,
help them grow from spiritual milk to solid food. They are the older men and
woman who have a heart for the younger men and younger woman.
Now you know what these stages are, there are different aspects
of a Christian’s life that contribute to growing to become more Christ like.
Fellowship with other believers, being part of small bible study or community
group, doing your own bible reading during your daily devotions, if you are
married having a time of bible reading and prayer with your spouse. Another
aspect very important is one on one, discipleship in different stages of our walk.
Lot of us at some time has been disciple by another older Christian who was
further along in his or her own spiritual walk.
You may ask isn’t the above a lot? Yes, it is, but each
plays a important role in helping us grow .Like right now I’m discipline one of
my cousins on a weekly basis. She started coming to our church the end of last
year, gave her life over to Christ. Started coming to our community group and
then I asked her if she would like to start discipleship with me and she was so
excited. It is so wonderful to see her spiritual growth, she is hungry for the word,
and Gods word, and just recently told me she wants to be baptized, which im so excited
about.
While looking online this morning I found 2 quotes that
really sum up why its important for us to discipleship, But before i go any
further I want to emphasize one point so there is no misunderstanding of what
im trying to convey! WE are all
disciples of Jesus, WE are all told to share
the GOOD NEWS!!!!!Tell others, who Jesus is, and what HE did and how they too
can be saved. BUT discipleship is when mature Christians are taking another
under their wing and walking alongside
them and helping them understand on a more deeper level, what does being a Christ
follower look like, As Christians what is require of us and how do we go about
doing it!
Here are the quotes I found online.” The one indispensible requirement for producing Godly mature Christians
is Godly mature Christians!” BY: Kevin De Young which why discipleship is so vital to the
equation. mature Christians are spiritual parents who are helping others grow
and become all God has meant them to be, and
each time someone reaches that spiritual maturity, they need to step out
of their comfort zone and pray and ask God to reveal who they can help to grow.
We are not called to live a life that God gave us alone.
I think of a new mom who just had her 1st
baby. She will seek out the guidance and encouragement, and advice of those
moms who have been a mother for a while, they will learn and become the kind of
mother God has meant them to be. in the same way those of us who have been
walking with the Lord for awhile and continuing to walk close to him have a obligation to seek out those we can
disciple and help grow up to be the men
and woman God desires!
We will never stop
learning, once we think we know it all that is when we become prideful and sin
creeps in. The Christian walk is really about growing more like Christ and
living our lives transformed by the renewing of the mind and heart. Here is the
other quote I found:”Growth and development
take time, learning takes practice. Discipleship is a journey and true
conversion is a continuous process. By:
Brad Wilcox
We cannot become stagnate, and just get
stuck in a stage, I realized for awhile in my own walk that’s what happened to
me. I’ve been a Christian just about my entire life, I grew some, but then got content with where I was, instead of
striving to grow and expand my knowledge, until finally the holy spirit
convicted me and told me, I could no longer just sit there and not grow. I was
bearing fruit, but not praying for eyes to see more, to understand more, I was
not using all my gifts and wasn’t living up to the woman God wants me to be!
I challenge you to
examine your own life and see where you are. Seek his FACE, dig deep into His word,
and if you think you need discipleship seek out someone, pray that someone comes
and talks to you about your walk and helps you. or if you are ready to go out
and find someone to disciple, then don’t wait ,God has equipped you with every
good work, He has given you all you need to do what He asks, just be willing
and ready. Discipleship is important, its not enough to just go to church,
community group, and personal devotions especially if you’re a new believer,
you need that solid food to help you grow, help you mature up in Christ Jesus! And
always stay humble, let that be our
prayer!
