I tend to overcomplicate things. And usually it’s not because things are really all that complicated. I just make them seem that way through overthinking.
Whether it’s a dreaded phone call, a visit, a task, or an uncomfortable conversation, I can easily convince myself that things are far more difficult than they actually are.
The shelf my wife wanted me to hang for the past three weeks, actually only took me 15 minutes to hang. That conversation I’d been waiting for just the right time to have with one of my kids, actually happened very organically on a recent drive. And that reorganizing of some financial funds that I’d been dragging my feet on for months, literally took my less than 10 minutes, and will save me hundreds of dollars every year.
As parents, we often do this with discipleship in our home. We know that discipleship needs to be happening. And we even have good intentions for it be a reality. But we still find it to be an ongoing struggle and convince ourselves to put it off. We think:
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“How can I add discipleship to an already busy family lifestyle?”
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“How can I possibly find time to sit down with my kids and study or memorize the Bible together?”
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“There is so much about my faith that I want to tell my kids and transfer from my heart to theirs… but I don’t even know where to start.”
Well, I’m here to tell you that the first place to start is in your mind. You’ve got to change the way you think about discipleship. Discipleship is not an addition to your life. It is your life.
Stop overcomplicating discipleship!
Jesus didn’t call us to “do discipleship” as much as he called us to simply be disciples who make disciples through our everyday lives. Jesus didn’t complicate discipleship so neither should we.
There is no place on earth that this hits closer to home… than the home.
The way we do discipleship should be as Jesus-like as possible. Jesus made disciples by spending time with the twelve. Jesus was the master at using things like meals, stories, and questions throughout everyday life to disciple his disciples.
Jesus had just three years to turn a rough group of a dozen men into disciple making world changers, and he did it more through the day to day interactions of everyday life than through anything else.
As parents, we’ve been given 18 years to raise disciples, and the best way to do it is the Jesus’ way—through the everyday little things of life.
Discipleship is not something that you add to your already busy life. Discipleship is a lifestyle of daily living out your faith with and in front of those you love.
Discipleship in everyday life…
Discipleship is praying with your teenager before they go to school in the morning.
Discipleship is helping your son or daughter know how to wisely navigate the complexities of friendships.
Discipleship is talking as a family about that latest tragedy or moral issue in the news from a biblical perspective.
Discipleship is taking time to stop and pray together in the moment when you hear of a personal tragedy in someone’s life.
Discipleship is taking the high road even when its the hard road, in front of your kids.
Discipleship is being intentional to care more about your child’s heart for a lifetime than what other people think in the moment.
Discipleship is letting your kids know how your relationship with Jesus is affecting your decisions today.
Discipleship is seeing God in the creation all around you every single day and pointing your kids’ attention to the Creator who made it all for them and who loves them deeply.
Discipleship is loving your wayward child the way that God loves you when you go astray.
Discipleship is being intentional so your kids see you reading your Bible and praying in the ebb and flow of everyday life.
Discipleship is tucking your kids in at night and asking them how God spoke to their heart that day.
Discipleship is discussing the Sunday sermon together on the way home from church.
Discipleship is pulling your child close and teaching them how to be more like Jesus by putting their siblings first.
Discipleship is instilling passion in your children’s hearts for reading, loving, and living the word of God.
Discipleship is your kids seeing you forgive and unconditionally love people who have hurt you.
Discipleship is your kids seeing how you respond when someone cuts you off in traffic.
Discipleship is a father complimenting a mother on the dinner she just prepared, or a mother kissing dad in front of the kids.
Discipleship is a dad who prays with his family, and a mom who demonstrates the fruit of the spirit.
Discipleship is making less statements and asking more questions.
Discipleship is when kids in a family truly believe that there is no better life worth living than a life lived for Jesus. Because they’ve seen it through mom and dad.
Just Do It!
Discipleship is not as complicated as we make it. JUST DO IT! Or even better yet, just BE it.
Discipleship is not a to-do item to add to your list. Discipleship is a lifestyle of living out your faith day by day in front of your kids. (Deut. 6:7)
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When you sit in your house.
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When you walk by the way.
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When you go to bed at night.
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When you wake up in the morning.
So whatever mental hurdles have been standing in your way for why you haven’t been discipling your kids, quit believing the enemy’s lies.
Start living out your ordinary everyday faith in a way that captivates the hearts of your children and points them to Jesus for a lifetime. Because discipleship is less about what you do with your kids and more about who you are with your kids.
Although you can’t always see the impact of the days. Your consistent daily discipleship investments are always easier to identify through the lens of months and years. Like continual drops in a bucket, each of your daily efforts ripple the surface of your child’s heart and fill them with training and an example in the way that they should go for life.
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Provers 22:6
