157 How to Disciple Your Children

Let's Parent on Purpose: Christian Marriage, Parenting, and Discipleship

The concept of discipling our children can sound very intimidating. There’s no end to the volumes of books and programs that have been created to help us make disciples. But sometimes all the books and programs bring confusion rather than clarity.

As I think through the discipleship of my own children, I begin to think of how Jesus made disciples. My brainstorm quickly grew to a list of 25 ways that Jesus made disciples. Ironically, the larger the list grew, the more encouraged I was. I want to share it with you, because it will help you realize that

1. You are in a better position to disciple your children than anyone else in the world.
2. You’re already doing most of the things Jesus did to make disciples.

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As promised on this podcast episode, here’s my list of 25 ways that Jesus made disciples:

How did Jesus disciple people?

1. Spend a lot of time with them over several years
2. Slept in the same places where they sleep
3. Ate with them
4. Let them see His personal walk with God
5. Went to celebrations with them
6. Went on walks with them
7. Told them stories
8. Worked and played together
9. Encouraged them when they did well
10. Confronted them when they were going the wrong way
11. Showed patience with them when they just weren’t strong enough
12. Showed weakness in front of them and let them help him
13. Asked them a lot of questions
14. Gave them tasks that were beyond anything they had done to that point
15. Went to religious meetings with them
16. Read scripture with them and discussed its meaning
17. Served other people with them
18. Talked about the things of God in informal times
19. Showed them how to do things
20. Let them do things that He was better at than them
21. Showed his full range of emotions around them
22. Prayed for and with them
23. Laid down His life for them
24. Preached the gospel to them
25. Empowered them to carry the word and work of God into the world

Look at that list. You’re already doing many of these! And it wouldn’t take much effort to add some of the others. Discipleship is Life on Life. Keep on discipling your children, and take joy in the journey!