Disciple Yourself by Ryan Whitley

My staff is always working on discipleship.  We first work on discipleship by discipling ourselves.  We then work on discipleship by discipling each other.  Our ultimate goal, however, is to disciple others.  That is our plan for discipleship.

What kind of plan do you have for discipleship?  Do you have a plan?  What does it look like?  You do know it is the call of every Christian to make disciples of the nations.  And one of the keys to discipleship is the ability to disciple yourself.  It is the ability to place yourself under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit in order to allow Him to mentor you.  You cannot make disciples of others until you allow the Lord to make a disciple of you

Here are five keys to discipling yourself.

1.  You must develop personal intimate time alone with the Lord.

We cannot teach others about personal intimacy with Christ unless we develop intimacy with Him.  Even as the Son of God, Jesus spent intimate time alone with His Father.  Several times the Gospel writers referenced personal times Jesus spent alone in prayer:

And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

Matthew 14:23

And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Mark 1:35

But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Luke 5:16

If Jesus considered personal intimacy alone with the Lord a priority, how much more should we?

2.  You must devote yourself to reading and studying God’s Word.

Let me be forthright: IF YOU ARE NOT READING AND STUDYING GOD’S WORD, YOU ARE NOT GROWING SPIRITUALLY. 

There is a direct correlation between God’s Word and personal spiritual growth.  Before you teach others from God’s word, you must learn from God’s word yourself.  True disciples are constantly in the Word of God, studying, reading, and learning.

3.  You must practice consistency.

One of the greatest deterrents to personal spiritual growth for many believers is lack of consistency.  So many are on again and off again in the disciplines of their faith.  Too many Christians take three steps forward and two steps backward because they do not practice constancy.  One of the greatest guarantees for personal spiritual growth is to be more constant.  To disciple yourself you must be consistent in worship, Bible study and prayer.

4.  You must find a way to be record your thoughts.

I record my thoughts by keeping a daily journal.  I find it necessary and helpful to write down all God is doing in me, for me and around me.  I also find it helpful to write my prayers.  This discipline keeps me focused on what matters.  I am not easily distracted when I write my prayers.

5.  You must fine tune the skill of reading.

Reading is a discipline.  It is a discipline that can become a skill.  Reading is important because it keeps the mind sharp.  Reading also produces lessons, ideas and insights you would not have otherwise about the kingdom of God.  To disciple yourself, you must fine tune the skill of reading.

So, before you think about discipling someone else, you must learn to disciple yourself.