3 Practical Ways to Grow as a Disciple
By Chris Denning
In our series Am I Christian, we’ve been talking about what it looks like to be a follower of Christ. The Bible calls those who follow Jesus disciples, and not just the 12 guys who he started with. Disciple is a pretty loaded term for most and might seem weird to you, but being a disciple simply means that you recognize Jesus as who He says he is and you want to grow to be more like him.
This begs the question: How Do I Grow as a Disciple? In this post, I want to share 3 practical ways that you can grow as a disciple.
1. Get in Community
If you’ve been around the church for any length of time, you’ve likely heard about the importance of community in the life of a believer. Even the Bible talks about the virtue and importance of community when it comes to our spiritual growth.
“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” – Proverbs 27:17
In community, we find others who are willing to walk the same road we’re walking, hold us to our word, and share the burdens we all carry. Being in community magnifies what we need to work on and gives us the tools to grow in them. If you’ve not tried it before, take the time to check out the Life Groups at Journey and see what might be the best place for you to grow.
2. Start Volunteering
Just like Groups, finding a team to volunteer with at Journey will bring people around you to help you grow in your faith. Actually, a lot of people who serve on a team at Journey find that those people become like another family and are friendships that truly last.
And it’s not just about the community aspect of serving that will help you grow as a disciple. Volunteering on a team will provide you many opportunities to serve others and to respond to promptings of the Holy Spirit. If our faith doesn’t turn into acts of service, then we’re missing a large piece of what being a disciple is about.
Take the time to find the team that fits your gifting and your season of life. Finding a place to dive in and volunteer at Journey is sure to help you grow as a disciple.
3. Expand Your Giving
It might not seem like it, but how you treat your money is a big part of being a disciple. Jesus talked A LOT about the dangers of loving money more than God and how easily it can distract disciples from our true focus.
Our Lead Pastor, Matt Dawson, just delivered an awesome message series about how we should view our giving called Investors and Consumers. If you’ve never tried giving before, especially as an effort to grow as a disciple, you should go back and listen to part 1 called Why We Give.
Making the effort to trust God with anything will grow you as a disciple. This is especially true with money because of how quickly it can steal our hearts. In fact, at Journey we encourage new givers to try something we call the 90 Day Giving Challenge. We invite you to try giving, giving anything, for 90 Days.
If at the end of those 90 days you don’t feel like God hasn’t followed through with his promise to help you grow through that, then just let us know and we’ll happily give you your money back, no questions asked. The bottom line is this: Take a step in expanding your giving and see what God does.