There are so many different views of what discipleship is and a ton of resources on how to disciple better. But if we use Jesus as the model, we see that he discipled the 12 disciples by inviting them to follow Him and live life together. In that context, He then taught them and imparted His life and His knowledge to them before sending them out.
Dayana came to South Africa with us 9 months ago as part of our team to serve the Lord here alongside us. As she entered her last 30 days of serving the Lord here in Cape Town, we felt God calling us to invite Dayana into our home to see what He wanted to do in that time living in close community together. Here are some of things we learned…
1 – It takes sacrifice to disciple and invest in someone intentionally as part of your life.
While we all live “busy” lives, we have a lot of choice over how we spend our “free time” as well. Sadly, many people spend hours of their free time in front of their televisions or electronic devices and social media.
Are you willing to lay down your personal agenda to spend time with others or invite them into your daily activities that you would normally do alone or just with your family?
Are you willing to invite someone into your home to stay with you to help them or invest in them, knowing that there will be some disruption to your personal space and activities at home?
If we don’t truly value pouring into others, we won’t make the sacrifices necessary to do so.
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but of yourself less.” – C.S. Lewis
2 – God knows exactly what we need, and often gives it to us even without us asking.
When we felt God calling us to invite Dayana to stay with us, one reason we thought He may be doing so was that she would benefit from experiencing Christ through witnessing how we interact in our marriage and parenting as she prepares for her own upcoming wedding in May.
What we didn’t expect was the blessing we received as Dayana offered time and time again to watch Arielle for us. We hadn’t planned for her to do so, but it allowed us to fully engage in numerous ministry opportunities without “distraction.” We were also able to enjoy a few “date nights” and continue to sow into a healthy marriage.
It was a wonderful blessing for us that we didn’t even know we needed. But God did 🙂
