Love & Discipleship

Devotion 9 – Love and Discipleship

Gal.2:20-21 – “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

As believers, we have the potential to grow in Christlikeness because of His indwelling spirit within us. However, not many of us are mindful of this potential, and neither are we intentionally growing in Christlikeness. Rather, most of us are more interested in pursuing other “fringe” benefits of Christianity.

When people told Jesus that they would follow Him wherever He went, Jesus immediately pointed to the cost of following Him (Luke 9:57-62).  To one, Jesus said that He, the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head.  To another, Jesus told him to “let the dead bury the dead”, and to yet another, Jesus said that no one, having put his hand upon the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven. There is a cost of discipleship!

Lk.14:27 – “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

The cost of discipleship is the cross - which represents the placing of our whole spirit, soul and body as a sacrifice to God. The cross of Jesus was the giving of His life for us; while our personal cross is the giving of our lives to God and to others. At the heart of discipleship is the love of God. Without the love of God, we cannot be His disciples.  In fact, our Lord Jesus said that loving others is the only means and method by which everyone will know that we are His disciples.

Jn.13:34-35 – “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

 

Loving God Loving People

 

After Jesus was resurrected from the dead, He took time off to minister especially to Peter who had denied Him three times. Peter was grieved that the Lord had asked him three times whether he loved Him. To Peter, it seemed as if the Lord doubted his love for Him.

Imagine Jesus asking us three times whether we loved Him. Like Peter, we will probably feel condemned and ashamed, especially if we are not walking in the Great Commandment and knowing that Jesus knows everything about us. But let us examine the question carefully.

Jn.21:15-17 – “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

 

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”

The Lord, of course, knows that Peter loved Him as He know all things, even the deep desires of our heart. Why then did the Lord ask Peter whether he loved Him? It was to prepare Peter to love others. When we love God, we will love others; it is the spiritual law.

The Lord responded to Peter’s affirmation of love with the words, “Tend My lambs…Shepherd My Sheep…Tend My sheep.” The point is loving Jesus should result in loving His people.

Discipleship is thus not just about working signs and wonders, teaching and preaching. The main thing that Jesus wants us to demonstrate is love, in such a manner that we can be distinguished from the rest of the world. The practice and discipline of love is the true hallmark of a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is simply saying, if you truly love me, love my people, disciple them - “feed My lambs”, and love them practically - “tend My sheep”.

      We can disciple in doctrine, in manifesting the gifts of the Spirit, and doing outreach or ministry effectively, yet we can neglect the most important discipleship program - teaching people to love, making them disciples of love. This is more important than our programs and activities. If we succeed at everything else but fail in this aspect of discipleship, we still fail for eternity.

Many of us serve God with noble hearts, yet with inadequate reasons. Some love studying theology and teaching from the Bible, some love leading people into worship, and some like to minister to the needs of the people, etc, etc. But if we were to examine our hearts and motives carefully, our motivation might not be purely loving God and loving people. We may be serving to get a sense of satisfaction and to meet our own identity needs. Or, we may be serving out of co-dependence, because we need to be needed and we enjoy the affirmation, the applause and the power of feeling important.

Behind Jesus’ questions to Peter are the two Great Commandments: to love God and to love people. If that motive is not central in our heart as we serve, we will soon suffer burnouts, disappointments and even become disillusioned.

Let us always be mindful of the Great Commandment as we continue to do intentional discipleship.