Marks Of a Mature Disciple

A Study in The Book of James

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”My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.“

James 1:2-4 KJV

We will delve into the deeper meaning of Discipleship in this study in further posts, but in the meantime, here is a brief summary to start.

A Christian disciple is a believer who follows Christ and then offers his own imitation of Christ as a model for others to follow (1 Corinthians 11:1). A disciple is first a believer who has exercised faith (Acts 2:38). This means they have experienced conversion and put Jesus at the center of their life and participated in rites of Christian imitation. A fully developed disciple is also a leader of others who attempts to pass on this faith to his followers, with the goal of repeating this process. (1 Corinthians 4:16–17; 2 Timothy 2:2).

Mature disciples are positive in negative situations. James admonishes us to count it ALL JOY…I know, someone is thinking, that’s not normal! No, it’s not. It’s supernatural. That is one of the great differences in a nominal Christian and a mature disciple.

Are you positive when dealing with problems? Are you positive when you are dealing with difficult people? Are you positive when you’re under pressure? The good news is you can be! 

With the right training and the power of the Holy Spirit you can live a life of Joy. That doesn’t mean you never get sad. It doesn’t mean you never grieve. It means you have a hope in the core of your being that holds your head up to face the future.

The first step in being a mature disciple is recognition. Satan’s goal is for you to ignore what you have. But God’s plan is for you to recognize that if you are saved and in right-standing with Him, you can have Joy because it is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Further, you must not only recognize it, but you must also receive your Joy!

Joy is where you get your strength to overcome troubles, temptations, and trials. “The joy of the Lord is our strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

As mature disciples, how do we maintain joy?

1. Know that God is working things in you and out of you for your good, and His glory. 

2. Make a decision that your faith will come through trouble even stronger.

3. Make a decision that you are going to allow trouble to work patience in you. 

4. Make a decision that trouble will mature you and not manipulate you.

Mature disciples always make the decision in advance as to how the adversities of life will be handled.