LOVE JESUS.
Discipleship is not a lifeless duty but an action inspired by love. All discipleship first flows out of love for God. You will never teach your children to love a God that you do not love yourself. Discipleship is a byproduct of love.
FOLLOW JESUS.
All good teachers are first good students. You cannot teach your child something you are foreign to yourself. So, to make disciples, you must first be a disciple. Discipleship is inviting your child to follow the God you joyfully follow yourself.
PRIORITIZE DISCIPLESHIP.
Discipleship is too essential to get the leftovers of our lives. Jesus calls us to "seek first the Kingdom of God." So, do an audit of your time, money, and resources. What do they tell you about your priorities?
LEVERAGE EVERY MOMENT.
Discipleship can occur in the mundane and the ordinary just as much as it can in the planned and the organized. Discipleship can certainly take place on Sunday mornings during corporate worship. But it can also occur on Tuesday afternoon on the way to soccer practice or gymnastics.
LEVERAGE YOUR FLAWS.
Just as much as discipleship can occur in the mundane and the formal, it can happen in the mess. Because of the cross, even your failures can be an opportunity to teach your child about God. When you blow it as a parent, you can apologize, repent, and ask for forgiveness. Then you can point them to the cross, teaching them about the grace and mercy of God that you both desperately need.
LEVERAGE THE CHURCH.
One of the beauties of the gospel is that you're now an adopted child of God, a member of God's holy family. Therefore, you don't have to wade the waters of discipleship alone. Together as the family of God, we can commit ourselves to teaching the next generation what it means to love and follow Jesus.
SEEK WISE COUNSEL.
Are you walking through a difficult situation with your child today? You are not the first to experience such difficulties. There is nothing new under the sun. So, lean into your brothers and sisters who are willing to give you advice that is saturated in the wisdom of God, not the wisdom of the world.
PRAY AND REST.
As followers of Jesus, we give our lives to discipleship. We exhaust ourselves daily to cultivate a gospel harvest in our children's lives. We plant seeds, and we water. But, at the end of the day, we know that God is the one who gives the growth. So, we humble ourselves before the LORD, asking him to grow our children up into men and women who love and follow Jesus.