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Qualities of a great disciple

1. Disciples follow
In Matthew 4: 18 Jesus calls Peter and Andrew to be his disciples
What made Peter and Andrew great disciples is their willingness to follow him
They left their nets and followed him
You can’t be a great leader until you can be a great follower
So many Christians struggle to follow anyone, but if they can’t follow a leader they won’t follow God
God will ask more from you than any leader will

2. Disciples learn
The Greek word for ‘disciple’ is ‘math-ey-tes,’ which means ‘learner or student.’ In biblical times a disciple would attach himself to a teacher. He would follow him day and night, interact with him and learn – If we are going to be disciples we need to be willing to learn
Every believer needs to be in a discipleship relationship
Who are you learning from?
God will always put someone in your life, if your willing to see it and embrace it
A disciple will seek out people to learn from – will put themselves in positions where they can learn from others

3. Disciples commit
Luke 14:27
And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
There is a cost to following Jesus – the idea is great – the reality costs us something
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Salvation is free, … but discipleship will cost you your life.
Great Christians who advance the kingdom have always paid the price
Stick around long enough to see what God can do with you

4. Disciples grow
Have a hunger to grow and develop
1 Peter 2:2
Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation
Aim to grow every year in your spiritual walk – don’t be trapped in the same issue and the same challenges
Great leaders will help you grow and go to the next level

5. Disciples honor
Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
The kingdom of God has a culture of honor
We honor God, we honor people, we honor those over us
Kingdom people are honoring and gracious
Whoever is your leader? – are you honoring them? – bless them, help them, serve them

6. Disciples produce fruit
John 15:8
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples
Disciples are fruitful – we should be aiming to produce fruit
There should be new life sprouting up around your life
Are people getting saved or revived around your life? – are they coming to church?
To produce fruit we need to plant seeds now – maybe it’s time to start planting

7. Disciples become like the master
Luke 6:40 Students are not above their teacher, but all who are fully trained will be like their teacher
When fully trained, disciples are like their master
How awesome is that –if you do the training –if you are a disciple you will become like Jesus
That is the test of a disciple – are you becoming more like Jesus?