How to Be A Growing Follower Of Jesus
What is a growing follower of Jesus?
Our mission at Worship Center is to lead people to be growing followers of Jesus who love God and love people.
Whether you are currently seeking and exploring faith or have followed Jesus for decades, we are committed to helping people of all ages — in every stage of life — be growing followers of Jesus. Moreover, we’re excited about it (check out these powerful scriptures to help you find encouragement in God’s presence and in his Word)!
One of my goals as a writer is to make complex concepts as simple as possible. The drift in communication is always towards confusion and misunderstandings.
A growing follower of Jesus is a simple term, but sometimes simple terms need detailed explanations.
If you want to know what a growing follower of Jesus is, a good place to start is with Jesus.
“Go and make disciples of all the nations,” Jesus told his followers as he was about to ascend to Heaven. “Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Here are five traits of a growing follower of Jesus:
1) Know Jesus personally.
Jesus is the visible image of an invisible God.
God sent his Son to be the undeniable proof of his unfailing love. Religion will never save anyone. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him.
If you want to know Jesus personally, start reading the Gospels. You will learn what it is to turn from your selfish ways and follow the way of Jesus.
2) Respond to Jesus by faith.
Faith is trusting God’s wisdom even when it doesn’t make sense to your human understanding.
Believing in Jesus as your Savior will give you the gift of eternal life. Responding to Jesus as your Lord will transform your earthly life.
3) Obey what Jesus taught.
Obedience to what Jesus taught is a series of second yeses of submission to Jesus. Jesus summed up all of the commandments in Scripture:
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
- Love your neighbor as yourself.
Obeying Jesus’ teaching calls you away from independent, self-focused, and autonomous living to be where real life is found in him, with him, and living for him (here’s how to be a resilient follower of Jesus).
4) Offer a sacrifice of praise in all circumstances.
“Let us offer through Jesus,” Hebrews says, “A continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name” (Hebrews 13:15).
It’s called a sacrifice because giving thanks to God in every circumstance is a practice of placing our self-centered will on the altar of God’s will.
Offer praise to God, not because you feel like it but because he deserves all praise.
Offering a sacrifice of praise will keep your core motivations in check by praying like Jesus prayed, “Not my will but yours be done.”
5) Do good and share with those in need.
You are not saved by your good works, but you are saved to do good works.
God has given every person a unique skillset connected to opportunities to do good works. If you want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” at the end of your life, it starts with using what you have to help others.
A life of worship will directly correlate to living with an open hand of generosity. Knowing that all you have is from God will shape your perspective on sharing it with others.
“These,” Hebrews says, “Are the sacrifices that please God” (Hebrews 13:16).
If Worship Center is your home church, our commitment to you for this new year is to help you be a growing follower of Jesus who knows Jesus, obeys what he taught, and responds to him with faith.
You will be encouraged and challenged to offer a sacrifice of praise in all circumstances, do good, and share with those in need.
We pray that you will identify and take your next step as a growing follower of Jesus and that the Holy Spirit will empower you to do what your faith prompts you to do.