The purpose of spiritual discipleship is to help believers understand what God is doing in their lives in order to accelerate their spiritual transformation from independence from God to dependence on Him. Effective discipleship involves prayerfully seeking those who are spiritually hungry and teachable, meeting regularly over several months to examine scripture, share struggles, and provide accountability as both the disciple and mentor grow in their dependence on the Holy Spirit and ability to reproduce this process in others. The goal is for disciples to become mentors themselves through a balanced approach of individual and corporate spiritual training.

1. Spiritual Discipleship 7
Guidelines for Discipling

2. Purpose of Discipling
The carnal man naturally leans towards being independent
from God. Before Christ, this disposition feels normal.
At salvation, God begins the process of our inward
transformation (sanctification). The pace and depth of our
transformation is influenced by our ability to understand the
ways of God and to being teachable.
The purpose of discipleship is to help one another understand
what God is doing, in order to significantly influence and
accelerate that process.

3. Scripture
Rom. 12:1-2, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of
God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice,
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will
of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Col 1:28-29, “We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and
teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present
every man complete (mature) in Christ. For this purpose also I
labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works
within me.”

4. Seeking God’s Choices
To be effective, you need to prayerfully seek God’s wisdom and
discernment as to whom to invest your time, energy and
possessions.
Lk 6:12-16, Jesus went away to pray and spent the whole night
in prayer to God. The next day, He called His disciples to
Himself and chose twelve, whom He also names as apostles.
Your time, energy and possessions are valuable. Don’t try to
disciple a disinterested person. This is frustrating. Break away
and find someone else who wants to grow. Maybe the timing
just wasn’t right.

5. Where Do I Look?
Look for new believers. They need someone to walk alongside
them.
Look for Christians who have been living in a desert
experience. It is possible God allowed a crisis in their lives to
bring them to a place of humility and they are finally willing to
acknowledge that He can manage their life better than they
can.
Stagnated or Plateaued Christians; or those who do not
understand how to consistently abide in fellowship with the
Holy Spirit.

6. Characteristics to look for
Spiritual Hunger - Mt 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
A Teachable Spirit - Do they have an openness to Him? Do they
see themselves as a student?
Dependable/Reliable - 2 Tim 2:2, “The things which you have
heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust
these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

7. Accountabiltiy
It is important that each person in the Life-to-Life Groups
covenant with one another; look at each other and say:
I will aspire to apply His truths to my life.
I will make my spiritual growth a priority.
I will aspire to be reliable, dependable and faithful in
every area of my life.
I will not take advantage of your time, energy or
possessions.

8. Suggested guidelines
Arrange to meet each week for 1-1/2 hours or so.
Determine to spend 3-9 months together.
Explain Biblical truth and principles.
Give opportunities to ask questions.
Give opportunities to share spiritual struggles, and discuss
related topics.

9. Commit to be a thoughtful listener. It is the best way to identify
gaps in spiritual understanding. Stop dominating the
conversation.
Be flexible enough to allow the Holy Spirit to change the
direction of the study or conversation, yet orderly enough so
the time is not wastes on less significant matters.
Each person should be encouraged to read the Bible, pray, and
eliminate noise/voices so they can hear what the Holy Spirit
wants to say; so they can apply Biblical principles.

10. Do not rush through the material.
The goal is to achieve a deeper understanding, so the disciple
can in turn clearly explain what they have learned and applied.
At some point they should be ready to mentor another person
(short-term) with your assistance and (long-term) without your
assistance. MULTIPLICATION.

11. There are many valid lessons that have been learned/taught
from God’s Word over the centuries.
However, the mentoring and nurturing aspects are crucial.
We believe the concepts presented in the discipleship lessons
need to be understood clearly by the disciple if there is to be
healthy growth and maturity.
Share Biblical Principles to live by, not just Bible knowledge.

12. Make yourself available through the week, if needed.
Regularly pray for and with your Life-to-Life Group.
Be a role model to those in your Life-to-Life Group.
The goal is to lead one another into dependence on the Holy
Spirit, and independence from each other. Each participant
should become a “spiritual reproducer.”
People won’t care how much you know, until they know how
much you care!

13. Rely on Holy Spirit
Study to show yourself approved; rightly dividing the Word of
Truth - 2 Tim 2:15
Focus on relationship with Jesus Christ (inward
transformation) - not merely outward behavior.
Spiritual mentoring should be balanced with corporate
training. Neither should be optional.
One-on-one training should be orderly and progressive.
Every believer is a potential discipler.

14. Look for the same characteristics of a typical human baby when
seeking someone to disciple:
They are hungry
They are dependent on others
They are self-centered

15. Next Week