THE FORGESample

DAY #3 Discipleship Begins With Humility

Do you doubt that God could greatly use you to make disciples? Don’t be afraid. He prefers the underdog over the top dog. He often recruits the poor over the rich. The undignified over the amplified. The least and the last. The most underwhelming and unlikely of all (1 Cor. 1:26–31).

Why? Because they are more humble and more teachable. More grateful and willing to serve. More likely to give God the credit instead of basking in their own glory.

God chose fearful Gideon, washed-up Moses, little brother David, and humble Mary. He picked the least likely woman in Samaria to evangelize her village (John 4:39–42) and a once-naked, homeless, demon-possessed guy to take the gospel back to his hometown (Luke 8:38–39). Go figure.

The very last option to us may be God’s very first choice. But He will always choose available disciples who are willing to obey His Great Commission. To make disciples.

The first part of making disciples is being a humble disciple yourself. You can’t challenge people to be ALL-IN for Jesus if you’re half-hearted and only half-interested in Him yourself. True disciple-making is more than having words to say but providing an example to follow. You don’t need to be perfect. Nobody’s perfect! But are you living with hidden sin? Are you resisting His Word? Are you not really convinced the gospel can change people’s lives?

Before jumping into a teaching role, you may first need to ask someone to help disciple you. That’s okay. There’s so much to be gained by humbling yourself to learn under someone whose example can consistently keep pointing you to Jesus.

But when you’re ready, the Lord will prompt you to become the one who mentors someone else, sharing rich conversations with them and teaching them to read and obey God’s Word.

What an incredible honor it would be to walk with someone through their entire discipleship journey, all the way from the start, from the moment when God first cracked open the hardened soil of their hearts. Jesus did this. He stuck with His disciples until He knew they were ready to go make disciples themselves. Paul did it with Timothy.

But often, these discipleship relationships are just for a season. You’re there for only a part of their journey. Maybe a year. Maybe a decade. Watering. Planting. Trusting God to give them (and you!) a time of real growth as you walk together (1 Cor. 3:7).

Please pray specifically right now for God to place one or more people in your path so that you can help them take their next step. Ask God to make it clear as you pray.