| Our verse to DATE the Word on March 10 (3/10) is 2 Timothy 3:10 |
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| 2 Timothy 3:10 says, “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,” ESSENTIAL TOPICS TO TEACH as a DISCIPLER As my boys were growing up, they played little league baseball. It wasn’t long after they started playing that I was asked to help as an assistant coach. This was something I had never done before so there was a LEARNING CURVE. I was blessed early on to assist a coach who had played in college and I was able to LEARN how to run a practice. While baseball is a simple game it is also a very complex game I learned from him that we wanted to get the team not only to practice the basics of fielding, throwing, catching, hitting and running but also what to do in a variety of game situations. When we arrived at practice he had a list of things to go over and do so each player could get some practice in the basics and in game situations. He knew the areas that needed to be developed and as a result this team did very well. I share this about me learning about what needed to be practiced because I have found that like baseball, discipleship, while simple, can be complex. I have found that most people know they are to be discipling other people and many would like to but they don’t know how to run the practice. Being transparent I was in this category. I knew I was to be discipling others and I wanted to disciple others but I DID NOT KNOW what I should be teaching. As I struggled with what was involved with discipling I had a couple of young men come to me and ask if I would disciple them. Now I had to get an answer as I agreed to meet with them once a week. To get the answer I recalled someone somewhere saying 2 Timothy was a book that revealed how the Apostle Paul discipled Timothy. So I grabbed my Bible and I read through the four chapters and sure enough, I saw how one could conclude 2 Timothy was a book about discipleship. The first major conclusion came from 2 Timothy 2:2 which says, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” I reasoned that to disciple another was to teach what I had learned from the various men who had discipled me. The second conclusion that this was a book about how to disciple came from our verse to date on March 10, (3/10), 2 Timothy 3:10. It starts with, “But you have carefully followed my…” As I consider those words I am realizing that what would come next would be things that Paul taught, (discipled) Timothy to do. So, then I read that Paul had taught Timothy “doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,” From 2 Timothy 3:10, I saw seven essential areas to pour into the two young men that wanted me to disciple them. I would teach them what we believed as believers (doctrine) and how we should behave as believers (manner of life). I would want to spend time with them about determining what God wanted them to do with their life (purpose). I would be spending time with them on how to trust God to do what He wanted them to do (faith). We would look at how to get along with people by being patient (longsuffering) and showing them love. And we would consider what it took to stay in the race that God had set before us (perseverance.) Like coaching a baseball team the essentials, I now had the essentials for discipling. And now you have them as well. If you are going to fulfill the Lord’s commission of going and making disciples I strongly encourage you to read 2 Timothy and especially drill down on 2 Timothy 3:10. Verse to DATE the Word on March 10 (3/10) is 2 Timothy 3:10. 2 Timothy 3:10 says, “But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance,” Continue Strong making disciples, And remember to DATE THE WORD |
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