What does it mean to become a disciple of Jesus? How do we embody discipleship? We find ourselves asking these two questions at different points in our lives. But answering these is a journey of incredible insight and discovery.

Understanding Christian discipleship in the face of uncertainty and adversity is both challenging and incredibly rewarding. Building a framework of understanding is one of the best ways to share the meaning of being a disciple, a true follower of Christ, with another person. The following framework outlines three aspects of Christian living that we hope helps you in your discipleship journey.

“For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, the one who is righteous by faith will live.” (Romans 1:17)

To have faith means to believe in or trust in something or someone. It is to trust and have complete reliance on something. When we have faith, we are compelled to embrace its goodness and truth. In accepting these, we seek to apply them in our daily life.

Faith and loyalty are often associated with one another. When faith is applied to a person’s everyday life, it is understood as loyalty. This shows that faith is not only a cognitive or passive concept. It is something that has to be applied to our actions and judgment.

As people of the Christian faith, faith in the gospel promises brings us to life. We live in them and by them. With our faith in the Lord, we come alive to lasting life as opposed to death. The Spirit of God helps us to be born again.

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:25)

The Holy Spirit remakes, regenerates, and rebirths us. They are there to usher us into God’s holy embrace and righteous family.

When we walk in the Spirit, we are taking a journey through life in their power. We also bear and live by the Spirit’s many fruits.

Through his writing, Paul wanted us to know that since the Holy Spirit has led us in God’s loving presence, He lives in us. This is why as people of the Spirit, we should try our best to live each day in their power—striving to achieve and share peace, love, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, generosity, and self-control.

“But by the grace of God I am who I am, and [H]is grace to me has not been ineffective. Indeed, I have toiled harder than all of them; not I, however, but the grace of God [that is] with me,” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Through Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we were declared righteous in God’s sight. He reconciled us to God. Through Him, we were adopted into God’s family. He made us new. Through Him, we are forgiven for all our sins.

To rest in grace is to trust in God’s love and favor all the time. It is relying on the blessing we have received. It is believing in the Lord’s work regardless of the difficulties we face. In the Lord, we don’t do things hopefully; we hopefully.

Grace is God’s loving generosity to us. We shouldn’t think of it as some small part of God’s economy where He makes up for the leftover space where we can’t measure up, but as His entire measure as the all-powerful ruler of the universe. Grace is our only hope of heaven and eternal life in His kingdom.

Most of the time, the concept of Christian discipleship is hard to comprehend. However, with an understanding of the three aspects of Christian living, we can get a sense of how discipleship works in our daily lives. We also receive a framework that helps us be better believers, followers, and people of faith. 

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective training and coaching strategy, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!

Have you ever thought about discipleship and what it means? What it means for you, defines how you live. 

Discipleship can improve every aspect of your life when you practice it well.

The Greek word for discipleship is mathēteuō (pronounced math-ayt-yoo’-o) and literally means to make disciples. It means to make a disciple, to teach, to instruct.

Jesus described discipleship this way. “By this, My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so have, I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” – John 15:8-10

In this first part of the article, your trusted Christian mission organization is going to take a closer look at discipleship and its true meaning.

You don’t need to look further than Jesus Himself, the greatest example of what true discipleship looks like. Our call as followers of Christ is to become more like the one we are following, Jesus Christ. He is our benchmark, our standard, the one we hope to model our lives after.

One of the first things Jesus does at the outset of His ministry is gather a bunch of men who he does life with for the next three years of His ministry. All of the men from different backgrounds, all of them imperfect, all of them sharing the same desire to follow Jesus wherever he would take them. A healthy reminder that Jesus takes us just as we are but calls us to live differently.

We must follo Gods commands, as Jesus did. A beautiful picture of this is on the Mount of Olives where Jesus prays, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) The cross is a reminder that Jesus exemplified complete obedience.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments. – John 14:15

The Apostle Paul gives a final charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:10-17 and reminds him of the importance of God’s Word.

All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Paul’s reminder to Timothy is that scripture is divine inspiration and is useful for;

There are multiple scriptures throughout the bible calling us to be like Christ,

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to share the Gospel. The truth of the Gospel is found in the richness of His teachings. Jesus’ final command – the Great Commission, is a call to every follower of Christ to share the Good News both locally and globally. It is important to remember that God has placed us each in the families, the neighborhoods, the communities, and the workplaces we are in on purpose and for a purpose. God has positioned each of us exactly in the right position for us to share the Gospel of Grace with those who are in our circles of influence.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”
– Matthew 28:19-20

Jesus has designed his church to function like a healthy body (1 Corinthians 12:12-29). Each of us has a part to play and like a healthy body, we function best when we are working together and in unity.

Who are you discipling?

Who are you actively helping in their walk with God?

As disciples, we are called to be intentional about helping others so that they in turn can disciple others too.

The greatest joy of discipleship is to be reminded once again of the undeserved favor and mercy of God that we have been made spiritually alive in Him.

“But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us, even when we were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of our sins, He made us [spiritually] alive together with Christ (for by His grace—His undeserved favor and mercy—you have been saved from God’s judgment). And He raised us up together with Him [when we believed], and seated us with Him in the heavenly places, [because we are] in Christ Jesus, [and He did this] so that in the ages to come He might [clearly] show the immeasurable and unsurpassed riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [by providing for our redemption]. 

The joy of our Christian faith is that we don’t have a list of do’s and don’ts but instead we have an open invitation from Christ to follow him in this work of art where we are the canvas and He is the artist.

“For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].” – Ephesians 2:10

Here are some of Jesus’ instructions when it comes to discipleship:

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus calls us to join Him in discipleship. The passage says, “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Can this be any clearer?

Jesus wants to teach us what true discipleship is. He is with us every step of the journey and is the best teacher we could have ever asked for.

Hopefully, the first part of this two-part post gives you an idea of what true discipleship means and that it encourages you to become one, too. To know more about what discipleship is as Jesus had shown us, read our “What is Discipleship? (Part 2)” follow-up article.

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective training and coaching strategy, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!

We are all called to be disciples of Jesus Christ who live our lives fully for His glory, ordering our priorities around the global mission of Christ no matter where we are called to live or what our vocation might be.  

As disciples, we have joined a new order of life—a life of discipline and accountability that can transform us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; 12:2). But before we start making disciples, we must be sure that we are disciples of Jesus who are growing in our relationship with God (Colossians 2:6-7). All disciples are meant to live the life that Jesus displayed for them.

So how can we grow as disciples?  

Knowing Jesus Christ and making Him known is the responsibility of every disciple, and it must be the top priority in life. Nothing compares to knowing Him as our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord of our life. For the sake of knowing Christ, Paul not only considered everything to be lost—he actually lost all things. Because of his allegiance to Christ, he lost everything he had. He considered any possessions or worldly pleasures as “rubbish” or garbage so that he could gain Christ. Even if Paul knew Christ personally and intimately, it is clear that he wanted to know Him more. (Philippians 3:12-14; John 14)  

Mary of Bethany possessed a pint of expensive perfume, but she thought nothing of pouring it on Jesus’ feet as an expression of her love for him (John 12:2-3). She not only released a valuable possession, but she also did so eagerly in order to embrace something much more valuable—the love of Christ. This great love caused her to express her lavish love in return.  

It is the same for those of us who experience the love of Jesus. Even after Jesus died, Mary was the only one at the tomb looking for Him while others were hiding (John 20:11-18). The problem of many of the early New Testament churches and the churches of today is the tendency to pursue principles of living rather than intimacy with Him (Galatians 1:6-10; 3:1-6; Revelation 2:2-5).  

Do we know why many people start well and fail to finish well in their faith journey as disciples? The reason is that they started their life by enjoying intimacy with Christ, but later they began to learn principles of morality and they began to rely more on that than on their intimacy with Christ. That is the reason why many people are not finishing well even if they started well.  Nothing satisfies the heart like intimacy with Christ.  

For I am convinced that neither money nor possessions nor marriage nor health nor success nor recognition nor affirmation nor anything else one might consider valuable is able to be compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus as our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39) 

The more we get to know Him, the greater the opportunity for His to influence us. As we grow in knowing Him, we begin to see as God sees. 

We grow in our relationship with God when we are able to see as He sees.  Occasionally, it is good to reflect on how God might be looking at people, things, or situations.  How does God see this thing I’m so proud of?  How does God see my relationship with Him and others? And how does God see the way I am doing things? What does God see when He looks at us and others?   

One of the most vivid examples of seeing as God sees is found in Isaiah 6:5. When we start to see as He sees, we will not be the same. Whatever is evil before Him will be evil to us as well. It is clear that the more we see ourselves and the world around us the way God sees, the more we see God at work in our lives and in the lives of those around us.  

It is very important to learn to see as God sees (1 Samuel 16:7). His view is complete and perfect (Hebrews 4:13; 1 Corinthians 12:15-16; 12:21). When Samuel saw Jesse’s eldest son Eliab, he assumed he would be the one God would anoint as king. But the Lord told Samuel he was not the one. He said, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (Numbers 13:28-33; 2 Kings 6:15-17). 

Love first 

In John 15:12, Jesus says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (emphasis added). What does He mean when He says, “As I have loved you?” Simply, it is God’s self-sacrificing love He gives to us. Our love for Christ flows from His love for us because He first loved us and gave His life for us (John 15:13). Jesus told us that we can abide in God’s love if we keep His commandments. We are to live just as Jesus lived.  

Obedience next 

There is always joy in doing the right thing. Knowing Christ will increase our love for Him. We obey simply because we love Him (John 14:15, 23-24; John 15: 9-10). When God asks us to do something, then we must obey Him; and the more we love Him, the more we want to obey Him; and the more we obey Him, the more we abide in Him and bear more fruit. A servant does what his master orders, but a friend does the will of his friend. We know the will of the Father, and we obey because it is His will. 

In order to be a good friend of Jesus, we need to learn to know Him and know what He likes and dislikes. Webster defines “friend” as “A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts; one with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.” Webster’s definition also says that a friend is one who holds another in high esteem, respect, and affection. A friend is one whose happiness and prosperity you desire to promote.   

The disciples of Jesus were hard to befriend. But Jesus considered them to be friends, and He opened up His life and shared everything He knew with them. The same is true with us. No matter who we are, what we have done or not done, Jesus still calls us “friend.” It is our choice to be the friend of Jesus Christ or the friend of this world (James 4:4). Being a friend of Jesus involves fellowship with Him. Friends like to spend time together; if we want to be a true friend, we must spend time with our friends. Because good friendship requires spending time together and sharing thoughts and ideas, hopes and dreams, we must spend time with God through prayer and the study of His Word.   

Jesus is the best friend that anyone could ever have. He wants to have a personal relationship with all people around the world. He sent us into the world to let others know that they can be His friends. We were sent, not to compete with one another, but to love one another so the world will know Him through our love (John 13:34-35). If we truly have a love for each other, and have one heart and one attitude, then it is easy for us to bring others to friendship with Jesus.  

As disciples, we should realize that we have been sent by Christ as He Himself was sent by His Father to preach the Gospel and make disciples. If we do this in our lives and through our deeds, at the end of our earthly ministries we will say, “We glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave us to do.” 

As we get to know Him more, our love for Him increases; as our love for Him increases, our obedience to Him grows; when we obey Him, we are abiding in Him and that will bring forth fruit; when we are bringing forth fruit, we are fulfilling life’s purpose and glorifying God. 

Global Disciples Canada is a Christian mission organization that trains local leaders living near least-reached communities to multiply disciples for Christ. One-third of our world hasn’t heard the Good News of Jesus. Yet. Global Disciples refers to these as “least-reached” people, and fewer than 10% of all missionaries work among these groups. We live in a time where many of these people are within reach of a local church. Through our simple and effective training and coaching strategy, believers share the Gospel in their own nations and cultures. Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” and we’re committed to doing just that. If you are looking for a Christian mission organization to partner with to become a better disciple and help make disciples, connect with us today!

Discover the inspiring stories of Bibek and Sajit, who remain faithful despite facing christian persecution from their families.

Weekly we hear stories of disciple-makers who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, despite the contradictory religious ties of their families.

To make matters worse, many of these disciples live in communities where respect for elders trumps religious truth, and disagreement within families can result in alienation. Here are some of their stories:

Bibek was raised in a strong orthodox Hindu family. Consequently, his parents were devoted to their Hindu gods and goddesses. Discontent with his parent’s worship, Bibek sought the counsel of a Christian man in his village. After purchasing a Bible and attending Christian church services, Bibek felt compelled by the love of Jesus, and confessed his sins. He kept his new faith a secret from his family for some time. But, when they learned that he was a follower of Jesus Christ, they were very disappointed. Although he has tried to explain Jesus is the only way to heaven, his family continues to practice Hinduism.

Sajit attended a discipleship training where he accepted the Lord as his Savior and began worshipping Jesus Christ. Following the training, he returned to his home, where he would be the only believer. His father was the head Buddhist priest in their community. In fact, Sajit was hated by not only his family, but his entire village. False rumors spread quickly, and people on the street would spit on Sajit as he passed by. Six months later, he attended a leadership training, and found a job in the crusade against human trafficking. Through this position, the Lord provided Sajit with a positive reputation, and relationships among law enforcement officials in his village. As a result of the Lord’s provision, he has been able to share the Gospel with the community that persecuted him, and bring many of them to Christ.

The obedience of Bibek and Sajit is inspiring, as they remain faithful to Jesus Christ despite persecution from their families. Their faith has developed an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, and the courage to disciple in the wake of persecution.

At Global Disciples Canada our mission is to work alongside the Body of Christ to equip believers to be disciples who follow Jesus and fulfill His mission. By putting our efforts where disciple-makers will go and make disciples among people who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus, we are fulfilling the mission Jesus gave to all His disciples to multiply “even to the ends of the earth.”