Yesterday I wrote about making a disciple. While thinking about that, I thought how we need to be a disciple before we can make one. But that is not easy.
Reading in the book of Acts and some of Paul’s letters, we see that there were early preachers who went out to preach Jesus, but evidently they weren’t really disciples before they started. Perhaps the message in those stories is that we need to be self-aware of our motives as we embark on discipleship. Perhaps some were more interested in being a preacher–the center of attention–than in making disciples.
We must be learners. If the disciple-maker is a teacher, then we must be learners. It becomes very important in our lives to follow the right teacher. I know a man who has built a successful business based on the teachings of his marketing professor from college. He is a disciple.
I am building a business based on the example of a couple of people I respect. When it comes to how I live my life, I choose to learn from Jesus. Seems like the best example I can find. So I not only look for an example, I actively do what they teach. Maybe not perfectly, but I work on it. Practicing leads to discipleship.
So, we learn and we practice. And we do that until we suddenly realize we’ve been telling others about what we’ve learned, how we’ve practiced, and how that has affected our lives.
We’ve grown from disciples only to disciples and disciple-makers.
Faith Venture 
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