Spiritual Discipleship 7Spiritual Discipleship 7Guidelines for Discipling

Purpose of Discipling

The carnal man naturally leans towards being independent

from God. Before Christ, this disposition feels normal.

At salvation, God begins the process of our inward

transformation (sanctification). The pace and depth of our

transformation is influenced by our ability to understand the

ways of God and to being teachable.

The purpose of discipleship is to help one another understand

what God is doing, in order to significantly influence and

accelerate that process.

Scripture

Rom. 12:1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of

God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,

acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by

the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will

of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Col 1:28-29, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and

teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present

every man complete (mature) in Christ. For this purpose also I

labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works

within me.”

Seeking God’s Choices

To be effective, you need to prayerfully seek God’s wisdom and

discernment as to whom to invest your time, energy and

possessions.

Lk 6:12-16, Jesus went away to pray and spent the whole night

in prayer to God. The next day, He called His disciples to

Himself and chose twelve, whom He also names as apostles.

Your time, energy and possessions are valuable. Don’t try to

disciple a disinterested person. This is frustrating. Break away

and find someone else who wants to grow. Maybe the timing

just wasn’t right.

Where Do I Look?

Look for new believers. They need someone to walk alongside

them.

Look for Christians who have been living in a desert

experience. It is possible God allowed a crisis in their lives to

bring them to a place of humility and they are finally willing to

acknowledge that He can manage their life better than they

can.

Stagnated or Plateaued Christians; or those who do not

understand how to consistently abide in fellowship with the

Holy Spirit.

Characteristics to look for

Spiritual Hunger - Mt 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and

thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

A Teachable Spirit - Do they have an openness to Him? Do they

see themselves as a student?

Dependable/Reliable - 2 Tim 2:2, “The things which you have

heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust

these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Accountabiltiy

It is important that each person in the Life-to-Life Groups

covenant with one another; look at each other and say:

I will aspire to apply His truths to my life.

I will make my spiritual growth a priority.

I will aspire to be reliable, dependable and faithful in

every area of my life.

I will not take advantage of your time, energy or

possessions.

Suggested guidelines

Arrange to meet each week for 1-1/2 hours or so.

Determine to spend 3-9 months together.

Explain Biblical truth and principles.

Give opportunities to ask questions.

Give opportunities to share spiritual struggles, and discuss

related topics.

Commit to be a thoughtful listener. It is the best way to identify

gaps in spiritual understanding. Stop dominating the

conversation.

Be flexible enough to allow the Holy Spirit to change the

direction of the study or conversation, yet orderly enough so

the time is not wastes on less significant matters.

Each person should be encouraged to read the Bible, pray, and

eliminate noise/voices so they can hear what the Holy Spirit

wants to say; so they can apply Biblical principles.

Do not rush through the material.

The goal is to achieve a deeper understanding, so the disciple

can in turn clearly explain what they have learned and applied.

At some point they should be ready to mentor another person

(short-term) with your assistance and (long-term) without your

assistance. MULTIPLICATION.

There are many valid lessons that have been learned/taught

from God’s Word over the centuries.

However, the mentoring and nurturing aspects are crucial.

We believe the concepts presented in the discipleship lessons

need to be understood clearly by the disciple if there is to be

healthy growth and maturity.

Share Biblical Principles to live by, not just Bible knowledge.

Make yourself available through the week, if needed.

Regularly pray for and with your Life-to-Life Group.

Be a role model to those in your Life-to-Life Group.

The goal is to lead one another into dependence on the Holy

Spirit, and independence from each other. Each participant

should become a “spiritual reproducer.”

People won’t care how much you know, until they know how

much you care!

Rely on Holy Spirit

Study to show yourself approved; rightly dividing the Word of

Truth - 2 Tim 2:15

Focus on relationship with Jesus Christ (inward

transformation) - not merely outward behavior.

Spiritual mentoring should be balanced with corporate

training. Neither should be optional.

One-on-one training should be orderly and progressive.

Every believer is a potential discipler.

Look for the same characteristics of a typical human baby when

seeking someone to disciple:

They are hungry

They are dependent on others

They are self-centered

Next Week