Jesus commands us to make disciples.
I’ve been giving that a good bit of thought lately and I thought I’d share what I use as a quick-and-dirty guide for discipleship.
These are three principles I personally lean on—whether I’m leading a small group, walking marriage ministry, a Bible study, or just walking with another believer.
I’m offering them here in hope that they might be helpful.
𝟏. 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐅𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐭
When I was growing up, there was a fear of being wrong—not just in the classroom, but especially in the church.
I want to reframe that fear into discernment: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵?
When someone shares, we don’t need to fixate on flaws. “𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥.” (Romans 12:9)
Even if their understanding is off, a heart that aims to edify others is in itself worthy of encouragement.
Like a miner panning for gold, we’re not focused on the bits of dirt and rock, but on that precious treasure which is Christ.
Let’s pray for eyes trained to see Him, the real treasure, and help draw Him out of the Word and each other.
𝟐. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐒’𝐬 — 𝐀 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Division in the body of Christ often comes from selfishness:
A desire to be right, defend a position, protect a tradition, gain influence, or stay in control.
To guard against this, I submit the 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐒’𝐬:
𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫 – Jesus alone saves (Acts 4:12), not our works, systems, or heritage.
𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 – If we have Him, we lack nothing.
𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 – His life, words, and Spirit are the final authority (Hebrews 1:2). Jesus is the answer to every question.
This stance keeps us from being derailed by secondary disagreements or philosophical debates.
Satan’s work is to divide, but Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
When we stand in Christ Jesus, we’ve already won.
𝟑. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐈𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝
What God is doing is far greater than anything we could organize or imagine.
We must be careful not to quench the Holy Spirit by forcing His work into our expectations.
“𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘔𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦; 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵.”
— Exodus 20:25
The moment we shape God’s work into something of our own design, we trade His wonder for our control.
We see this in Acts when the Spirit fell on Gentiles—to the utter amazement of the Jewish believers.
God is doing something “𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺, 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬” (Ephesians 3:20).
Let’s not get in the way.