Discipleship usually helps you more than others
Published 4:26 pm Sunday, March 31, 2019
- Karen Stevens
The Orange County Christian Writers Guild is making a time change. We have been meeting for the last 6 years at 6 p.m. on the 2nd Tuesday of every month; but in lieu of those that attend soccer, football, etc. we have decided to move the meeting to 10:30 a.m.
Everyone recently went thru daylight savings time, and that time change was a good thing. So, hopefully, ours for the Guild will be as well.
I know we don’t save any time on daylight savings, but I do like having more light to enjoy the outdoors longer.
When it’s dark, my body always tells me it’s time to settle in. I’m not as productive at nighttime, but Jesus did not say that we are allowed to quit.
I think back to the days when I ran at full throttle and would not stop, even when nighttime rolled around, knowing I had more to do.
Have you ever noticed if you work at an office, the days you are there you are so busy, but when you aren’t there, most things seem to not get generated? Crazy huh? So, does that mean that we create work when we are working?
If you think on these same lines about discipleship, then it is a good practice.
We should be creating work for ourselves when it comes to discipleship. Other people need us to pray for them, help them in a ministry, bring them food, comfort them, etc.
1 Corinthians 14:26 states, “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.” “Let all things be done for building up.”
In Christianity, “disciple” primarily refers to a dedicated follower of Jesus. In the ancient biblical world, “disciple” was a deliberate apprenticeship, which made the fully formed disciple, a living copy of the master.
Based on that, all we need to do is read what Jesus did, and emulate Him.
In Mark 2:17 – “When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor–sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
My question is, “If there are 240 million people claiming to be Christians in the USA, how do you know who to disciple?”
Jesus said He came for those who know they are sinners. If you know you are a sinner, then you are always trying not to sin, and you want to change or be discipled.
Even though success is not always possible, you need to continue to strive toward not sinning. Hence, all the tricks that we have implemented in our lives to help us not sin, we should be sharing with those who don’t know how to master them.
Discipleship always has a bigger impact on me than the one I’m discipling.
If you’re struggling with who or how-to disciple, pick something that you love and turn it into a discipleship program, just like it states in 1 Corinthians 14:26.
I chose the Writers Guild as one of my discipleship programs because I felt the need to write a Christian Children’s Book. It not only helped others to reach their goals but mine as well.
People tend to flock to those that are successful, so just do what you love, and you will be working your way toward that living copy.
Karen Y. Stevens is the founder of the Orange County Christian Writers Guild