Diligence

Discipleship begins with diligence in following Jesus and is the foundation for our growth and how we advance God's Kingdom.   It is easy to get distracted or dismayed by the cares of life.

We are admonished to be diligent as disciples throughout scripture;

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.  1 Peter 1:5-9

How often we strive to be diligent and fail though.  And diligence in discipleship is hard.  The Apostle Paul expressed his own struggle.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Romans 7:18

So what are the key elements to growing in our diligence as disciples?

1. Seek the Truth: Jesus first sermon to his disciples was an introduction for the path to becoming a diligent disciple: See: Be a Disciple  So our first steps are to read, understand and apply this truth.

2. Find our Calling for his Kingdom:  Ask God to guide you and give you a burden for the eternal needs of others and what contribution you can make to show them love.    Look into what gifts God has given you that enable you to love them in these ways.   Pray the Holy Spirit to allow you to invite others to join your journey and work in you in them to reach the destination.

3. Find a Community: Ask God to help you identify other disciples of Jesus who are on your same journey and meet regularly to encourage each other in learning God's Word,  loving God and loving others.

4. Find a Coach: Seek out other believers who are demonstrating diligence in living as disciples of Jesus as role models and ask them for feedback and guidance on moving from the distractions of life to more diligence in 

5. Write down your Calling and Priorities for the year, and a Celebration Results Journal to log your priorities and celebration of how God fulfills them on a daily basis.   See the Discipleship page for resources I can provide you for greater results in finding and fulfilling your calling.

Take a few minutes with me so that I can show you how I have realized abundance in life through experiencing the fruit of the spirit in my life and how God has used the steps above to advance my calling for the Kingdom.

Reference

There are also many scripture passages that admonish us to be diligent disciples: Verses about Diligence in NKJV