Discipleship is simply the activity of teaching others how to obey the Lord’s commands for us in His Word. However, there is a certain kind of discipleship, commonly called personal discipleship, that refers to teaching that goes on within a personal relationship. This is of vital importance to the church because the church, by its very nature, is a family of believers in the gospel. Family, by its very nature, is personal. The church is not just a bunch of people who believe the same thing and get together once a week to sing and listen to someone speak. The church is a family of brothers and sisters who have a stronger bond than any natural family. We are all united to Christ. We all share the same Father. We all have the same nature by virtue of being born again. We are all brethren of Christ. Therefore, we ought to love one another with a love that is about as great as the love that a husband ought to have for his wife. God’s Word says that husbands ought to lay down their lives for their wives, and Christians ought to do the same for other Christians.

Personal discipleship is simply a matter of letting the brotherhood of Christians take its natural course. If there is no personal discipleship going on, there is either rampant evil in the lives of those Christians, or those Christians aren’t even Christians. Personal discipleship may even be viewed as Christian friendship.

What does personal discipleship require?

  1. The Knowledge that One is on His Way to Heaven
  2. A Concern for the Eternal Destiny of Others
  3. A Devotion to Loving Other Believers
  4. A Devotion to Warning Other Believers About Sin in Their Lives
  5. A Humble Heart
  6. A Love for Being with Other Believers
  7. A Devotion to Increasingly Conforming Oneself to God’s Word

Join me in teaching our brothers and sisters in Christ how to obey Him more by laying down our lives for them.