If attending worship alone is not the path to becoming more Christlike, then what is? Dallas has much to say on this. The key is not to attempt spiritual growth head on. This is not a diet and exercise program. This is not “if I just pray, read the Bible, join a small group, and have a quiet time then I will grow” discipleship. O, you would be wise to do all those things and more, but you will resist doing them because your human self will tell you it is impossible to keep at it. Kind of like your diet and exercise program. A lot of good intention but not much follow-through.

The two keys to being a disciple are this.

1. You understand why it is a good idea to face your life as Jesus would face it if he were you.

Why would you want to become more like Jesus? What did he say? ‘If you live like me you will lose your worries and face anything in life completely safe.’

Wow! Really? Yes

2. You actually want to live life in this way.

You have to make a conscious choice to want to follow Jesus . You have to arrange and rearrange your life to put yourself in the position to learn from Jesus in any way you can. This means some obvious things like praying, studying the Bible, helping others out. And some other things that are not so obvious like actually doing what he commanded.

Take revenge for instance. Can you become the kind of person who doesn’t take revenge? Try it. For a month, do not try to get even with someone who has wronged you. Do not strike back.

I will write more on the keys to being a disciple.