This article was originally posted on the Pretty & Wise Co. website. You can read more from Lyndsay and the rest of the Pretty & Wise team on their website: www.prettyandwise.com.
Discipleship - that word can feel so loaded and heavy. We know as Christ followers we are called to disciple other people, but sometimes, for a lot of us, it feels daunting and we have no idea where to start.
For me, when I think of discipleship, I think of motherhood. They are almost interchangeable when you are a Christian. They, at the very least, go hand in hand.
Don’t check out just yet if you don’t have kids. I believe with my whole heart that all women are called to motherhood. You may not be called to have biological children or adoptive children, but the call to spiritual motherhood is on ALL of us. Spiritual mothering IS discipling. It’s helping people around us grow up in their faith and mature in their Christlikeness. It’s caring for their hearts and challenging their minds and nurturing their souls.
As a mother of four children and a spiritual mother to many others over the years, the thing Jesus has shown me again and again is the simplicity of discipleship…oftentimes it is just being like John the Baptist and SEEING where Jesus is, NOTICING when he shows up in our presence, and POINTING him out to the people around us - drawing their attention to his presence and his identity. “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!”
In this season of homeschooling an almost middle schooler and elementary student, chasing a toddler around, and baby wearing a newborn, discipleship can feel completely overwhelming. How can I find time to disciple another woman? I can barely find time to finish my cup of coffee or take a shower or use the bathroom alone! So many of you can relate. If not for kids, for the other million things on your plate. We all struggle to keep busyness at bay, but busyness is oftentimes the enemy of our souls. We NEED to find time to get quiet before the Lord and BE discipled AND find time to disciple other people!
I’ll keep it quick and practical…
Disciple your kids FIRST. They are who we will answer for in eternity. And you don’t need to start a new Bible curriculum or have hour long devotional together…if you can - AMAZING! But even more than that, we need to teach our babies to find Jesus in everyday moments - not just the Bible study or small groups. He can be found when we are out in the woods building a wigwam, in the cool caterpillar climbing on the porch swing, in our talks about how our days went or in our bedtime prayers. He can be found when we fight with our siblings or when we skin a knee falling off our bike. He can be found in a million places, big and small, significant and mundane, special and ordinary, and it’s our role in motherhood to see where Jesus is in any given moment and say to our kids “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!” If you struggle to notice his presence, I’d encourage you to do 2 things… first, get in the Word every day. If you have 5-10 minutes to scroll social media, you have 5-10 minutes to give to Jesus. They may be distracting and chaotic minutes, but give them to Him anyway. And if you can manage it during naptime or before the kids get up or even after everyone settles for the night, do it! But for the Love…spend time with Jesus in His Word every day. And secondly, pray and ask for him to open your eyes to his presence. Ask him to help you see him in the everyday moments with your kids so that they can learn to recognize him too. God will honor that! I promise you.
Disciple a friend. How do you make time for that? Some seasons, it is through an intentional discipleship program with a group of women. Those are some amazing times, but it definitely takes sacrifice and sometimes you just don’t have the time to give up even for a few weeks. So what about those times? Well…I just had a baby 6 weeks ago. I just went back to work last week. I am a worship leader and it’s Christmas season so…it gets busy. And I’m already busy homeschooling kiddos, chasing a puppy around with my 4 year old, and getting nap trapped every 3 hours for 2 hours. I’m also trying to write articles on time for this blog called Pretty & Wise…and struggling! But discipleship is still a calling for me. In this chaotic season, a friend and I decided to read the same devotional book and text every day about it. And, praise the Lord, it’s only 1-2 pages of reading every day. But that is one way I can be discipled and disciple…I can look for Jesus and point him out to my friend as she does the same for me.
Discipleship is spiritual motherhood. And if you are a woman - you are called to motherhood…spiritual motherhood.
So sis, who are you mothering in this season? And how can you help that disciple behold the Lamb of God?