Ephesians 5:1; Matthew 16:24–25; Luke 9:23; John 3:30; Galatians 2:20; John 19:17; 2 Timothy 4:7.
Ephesians 5:1 ” Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.”
Do you consider yourself a disciple of Jesus Christ? Every Christian should be able to say that he or she is a disciple—not a perfect disciple, but a growing disciple of Jesus. Every believer should be one. Discipleship is living the Christian life as Jesus taught it and as the early church understood it. It’s real Christianity.
I think some are reluctant to live that way because it seems, well, radical. Discipleship is the road less taken, and some don’t want hardship. They don’t want a challenge. They don’t want difficulty, so they will take the path of least resistance instead of the discipleship road.
Yes, discipleship is challenging, but it is fulfilling.
It’s difficult, but it’s more than worth it, because it is living the Christian life as it was meant to be lived.
Here is what it comes down to :
Every believer should be a disciple. Then as disciples, we either should be discipled by someone more mature than we are, or we should be discipling someone less mature than we are.
Can you be there for someone else? When you take a new believer under your wing, you are helping that person grow spiritually as you model what a Christian looks like.
Are you willing to step out from the multitude and be a real disciple?
Are you willing to be more than a fair-weather follower of Jesus?
Jesus said,” If anyone desire to come after Me, let him deny himself, pick up the cross and follow Me.”Matt.16:24
Many disciples are believers, but not too many believers are disciples.
A disciple of Jesus must walk in His footsteps, and be willing to pay the price of being a disciple. What is the price? Matthew 16:25 “If anyone loses his life for Me, he shall find it.” When are you willing to lose your life when you are not willing to lose the little things in your life and put Jesus first and change the priorities in your life? How much are you willing to lose or pay for being a disciple of Jesus ?
An imitator means to be like Christ, like your Master. Are you?
What does it mean to deny yourself?
It means to die to yourself.
John the Baptist said,” I have to decrease so He can increase.”
Paul said,” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20
A true disciple must take the cross daily. That cross is not the cross of : sickness, financial crisis, hardships, but it is the cross when you are a true witness for Jesus, when you are persecuted, tortured and even killed for being a witness.
Jesus didn’t drop the cross, but the Bible says through John that Jesus arrived with the cross on Calvary.
We must be imitators of Christ.
How far should you follow Jesus as a true disciple? All the way.
To follow Jesus is not just a Sprint but a Marathon.
Paul at the end of his life, said,” I fought the fight. I finished the race…” Are you still running for Jesus ? Are you still fighting for His Kingdom ? Are you an imitator of Christ or the world ?