Fill and a Little Spill – Part 2

Earlier this week, I addressed the most common reason we avoid making disciples: The enemy attempts to make us useless by convincing us we’re inadequate. Many of us are certain we aren’t knowledgeable enough or good enough. In reality, these two lies of inadequacy have paralyzed some believers for decades. If that’s you, I encourage you to go back and read my last blog.If inadequacy doesn’t hold us back, the enemy attempts to bring us down by the next best thing: busyness. Who has time to invest in another person? Most of us are busy. To make matters worse, many of us are also perfectionists! We certainly wouldn’t want to commit to this type of investment and risk not living up to the expectations of a discipler, right?We convince ourselves that we’ll pour into others when life slows down. Funny thing… I’m certain that making disciples wasn’t an instruction given by Jesus for when we're in a retirement home. All of us can find someone a step behind us in our spiritual journey who we could encourage.[bctt tweet="Making disciples wasn’t an instruction given by Jesus for when we're in a retirement home."]If busyness is your battle, I want to help you see how you can still be effective in making a difference in another woman’s life. Here are 3 reasons you can still make discipleship happen…

1. Make it “as you're going”.Don’t make it so complicated that you can’t disciple someone. If someone wants to learn from you, they want to be in your space. Include them in what you’re already doing. Have them pick up in the book of the bible you’re currently in for your priority time. Ask them to join you in the bible study you attend. Invite them to join you in some of your normal activities. Discipleship is relational. They’ll learn from you as you're going.

2. There's one essential.The most important thing you can pour into your disciple is the ability and desire to spend time in God’s Word and prayer. This way, they’ll be a self-feeding Christian long after you’re done discipling them. If you’re successful in giving a woman a love for the Word of God and the tools to handle it accurately, you’ve accomplished your purpose. Everything else is icing.

3. Discipleship should end.If we’re doing our job, our formal discipleship should come to an end. Usually, within 9-12 months you can walk with someone long enough to teach them how to spend time in God’s Word and pour your wisdom into them. If a lasting friendship has formed, you can always continue your friendship… but don’t fear that your commitment means forever. God will bring another person to pour into them from their strengths.

There are very few things as rewarding as knowing you’re making an eternal difference in someone’s life. So many believers get stuck just trying to be good. You could help someone over the wall and into a place of seeing God’s heart to use them beyond their greatest expectation. Don’t miss the blessing.[bctt tweet="Don’t fear that your discipleship commitment means forever."]