So you've decided to follow Jesus and learn from Him all that life is meant to be. You've begun to take His words
and works and model your every day life after them. Yes, you can see for certain that you are becoming more like Jesus
and less like the world. All of this is wonderful, exciting stuff, is it not? A cause of much joy for yourself,
your discipler and all of Heaven.
As you mature in your relationship with the King, however, you'll find that your own personal growth into His likeness
does not stop with your own individual change. In fact, it becomes impossible to ignore that Jesus came not just to
live a perfect life Himself, but to change the lives of those around Him by making disciples of them. He passed on what
He knew and lived about the Kingdom and the King.
In our discipleship, we begin as wee babes whose primary needs are to learn and live what Jesus taught as we shed the
old self and put on our new selves in Christ. Once strong and well-taught in the school of Christ, however, we must
do as the Master did and share that life-giving truth with others. The cycle of discipleship is not complete
until the disciple becomes a discipler and multiplies.
It is through this mulitplication that the Kingdom of God grows. It is by helping another heart bow to the great
King and learn to live in His Kingdom that we do our part in advancing the Kingdom. If we settle for our own improvement
and salvation, we are missing the entire point of the Master's teachings and example - God wants all people to be a part of
His Kingdom.
As you learn and grow, please do it with this goal in mind: You are preparing not just to live with Christ yourself,
but you are training to become a capable trainer. You need to understand Christ's commands and ways of thinking not
just to follow Him in your own life, but to help others understand them as well. Do not settle; complete the cycle of
discipleship by keeping an eye on the time you will be stepping into the discipler's shoes.
