“Our Lord’s conception of discipleship is not that we work for God, but that God works through us.” -Oswald Chambers.
A disciple is a person who follows the preaching or lessons related to spirituality or religion. Discipleship refers to the scenario or situation of being a believer and follower, especially of Christ. In simple terms, a person who learns about and follows the path led by Christ for mankind to build spiritually mature leaders is discipleship.
Walking on his path helps shape the soul and body to pursue a content life. Generally, the core spiritual practices include reading Scripture, praying, fasting, living in the community, practicing generosity, making disciples, and communicating God’s story. All these activities help in the spiritual as well as an emotional transformation of the follower.
Nevertheless, the transformation is not as easy as it may seem. Here’s how it works:
Willpower And Hard Work
One way to think about and experience transformation is that it happens when you use your willpower and strive hard to make positive decisions. It helps you shape your soul and become spiritually mature. In simple terms, if you work hard, you can undoubtedly modify your behavior and perhaps even the way you think.
For instance, if selecting future leaders who can help improve the community is challenging, you can look for alternatives. Participating in a discipleship training program could be one such alternative. Working or training hard in such programs or workshops will help you share experiences, deepen your knowledge and develop the necessary skills to discover and guide leaders.
Feeling Of Being Held By God
Jesus proposes a different (counterintuitive) method of change. It means coming to God and being held by him transforms you. However, it is easier said than done! You can’t succeed in understanding his love and kindness if you continue to prove your strength or greatness. Instead, your failure, brokenness, and frailty bring you to him.
For instance, people often remember or pray for his kindness when things go out of their control. There are very rare instances when a person prays during happy scenarios or when the path in front of them is hassle-free.
Similarly, you can’t reach out to him by getting everything perfect; rather, you connect with him by admitting that you won’t get everything right. It gives you hope and accelerates your faith, eventually helping you transform spiritually and from within.
Holding Onto Hope
Last but not least, trust has always been the key to transformation. Your transformation begins when you trust who God is and what he says. When you hold on to hope in the face of adversity, you feel the change.
To be more specific, struggle forces you to confront and overcome our deepest fears- that God is far away, upset, or doesn’t love you. As a result of this process, you come to rely on an alternate reality where the preaching gives you lights and lets you see his presence nearby. This enhanced view of God and your faith in him help you change from the inside out.
Wrapping It All Up
Discipleship gives you hope, enlightens your vision, and makes you feel valued. All this helps you look at life from a different perspective, thus transforming you for the better.
