"Discipling" - by Huston Swift

"If God had not used  discipleship to grow my understanding of God's Word and remind me of His goodness, sovereignty, and wisdom, I doubt that I'd be walking with Him today."

God has given me the blessing of many brothers in Christ to walk alongside. Each person that has had a hand in helping me follow Christ is different and has discipled me in different ways. They have prayed with me, answered my questions about God's Word, called me out on my sin, taught me how to serve others, encouraged me when I was discouraged, and challenged me to grow beyond my comfort zone. Sometimes our time together was scheduled, sometimes last minute. Sometimes it happened during ministry,  other times during recreation or at work.

Some of the most impactful moments are opportunities to see a brother living a life worthy of the calling in the mundane everyday stuff. 2 Timothy 3:10 says that Timothy followed Paul's teaching, conduct, aim in life, faith, patience, love, and steadfastness in the face of persecution and suffering. 

God has used discipleship in my life in many ways, but the one that stands out most to me is that God has used discipleship in my life is to help me persevere. There's a song that says, "When I fear my faith will fail Christ will hold me fast." Five or six years ago, fear that my faith would fail was something that made me want to grow in the faith. In God's providence, I started attending the young adult group here at GCBC and the first study we did was by Paul Tripp. It was called Your Walk with God is a Community Project. It helped me understand that our faith is not a race designed to be run in isolation. This new understanding made me pursue discipleship which helped me grow in my faith. When trials came, God was faithful to hold me fast. If God had not used  discipleship to grow my understanding of God's Word and remind me of His goodness, sovereignty, and wisdom, I doubt that I'd be walking with Him today. Praise God that He holds us fast and gives us His Word and the body of Christ to sustain us and grow us in faith and spiritual maturity.