Discipleship, a nonstop commitment to Christ centered living

Life itself is a learning process. Without God, it’s a school of hard knocks. With God, it’s a blessing. I

t’s kind of ironic how we can spend an entire life time screwing up our minds with whatever, then in a few sober moments we receive Christ and think we got it all together. This is known as a minimalist view of salvation. You say the sinners prayer and then go right back to life as usual, bam done deal.

The “D” in discipleship stands for discipline. A person’s life before Christ owes nothing to anybody least of all God. As our sense of wonder and enchantment from childhood begins to slips away to truth and certainty the unwelcomed challenge may hurts so much that the search to get it back can become obsessive. An excessive desire to be comforted cannot help us avoid reality.

If we become willing to accept the fact that only God has the ability to make the truth understandable and commit ourselves to his authority then our future is sure and the wonder and enchantment returns as the power of God. You may not want to hear this, but, this won’t happen without discipline.

In the Bible the literal translation of the word disciple means “learner or pupil”. What makes a good student are the study habits he uses to make progress. Each day of life God has a new lesson for us to learn.

Staying Committed to Long-term Discipleship

"The bible says: “… whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” -Luke 14:27

One of the greatest modern day evangelist, Billy Graham said: “What Jesus was telling them is that they needed to put to death their own plans and desires, and then turn their lives over to Him and do His will every day.”

In my early life, before Christ snapped me out of it, there really not one plan or desire I can honestly think of that I didn’t relate to me. I’ll tell you what. You can spend a lifetime destroying your own life, but when your awakened to God’s Holy Spirit you spend the rest of your life killing the old one. Once you recognize your salvation there’s no turning back! Why, to return to a lifeless corps with no future? No. Saved people are changed forever! Learning the will of God is part of our new life and so we are always reaching for Him continually.

Discipleship is a nonstop commitment to a Christ centered life. That’s a real educational process. Without God, it’s a school of hard knocks. With God, it’s a blessing. Virtue Effect has the goal of providing resources that encourage this in an environment where spiritual growth revolves around the word of God.