Re:Verse passage – Ephesians 5:21–6:4; Matthew 12:46–50; 19:27–30 (day six)
We often think of discipleship in terms of programs, classes, studies, and practices. All of those can be useful, but these passages remind us that discipleship is relational before it is anything else. It begins with a relationship with Jesus, and then Jesus turns us toward one another.
Paul describes how Jesus redeems our closest relationships. Love for Christ and a commitment to Christ take visible form in mutual submission, sacrificial love, honor, patience, and care. Then, in Matthew, Jesus expands the boundaries of family to include all those who do the will of his Father. Those who have left homes and family to follow him receive a new and abundant family among his people.
Discipleship, then, is not simply information transferred or a process completed. It is the life of Jesus embodied in our nearness to others. Programs can organize discipleship and practices can direct it, but relationships are the arena where it takes shape.
Who has Jesus placed near you, and how might he be using that relationship to make both of you more like him?
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