The 21 Laws of Discipleship

1. Transformed by the renewing of your mind.

2. Transformed by training.

3. Transformed by worship.

4. Transformed in community.

5. Transformed by habit.

6. Transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

7. Transformed by imitating a godly example.

8. Transformed by trying really hard. (Yes, discipleship does include trying really, really hard.)

9. Transformed by faith.

10. Transformed by speaking the truth. We are changed more by what we say than by what we hear.

11. Transformed by pain.

12. Transformed by the gospel.

13. Transformed by service.

14. Transformed by finding and using the way of escape.

15. Transformed by going all-in.

16. Transformed by time.

17. Transformed by prayer.

18. Transformed by understanding and using the principle of replacement.

19. Transformed by confessing sin.

20. Transformed by living life in the kingdom.

21. Transformed by sovereign grace.

We are transformed by hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on God’s Word. The greatest of these is Scripture Memory. Nothing will transform your mind like the power of lodging God’s word in your heart.

I wrote a book years ago called The Habit of Discipleship. Not sixteen disciplines. One. Not really a discipline; a habit. The habit is that of starting your day with your Bible on your lap; the habit of the Christian Quiet time. If you can get into this one, single habit, Christian maturity will follow like day follows night. The quiet time is not Christian discipleship, but it inevitably leads to Christian discipleship. And, there is no Christian discipleship without it.

I am fascinated by the technology of GPS. How a little box can talk to satellites miles above the earth and tell me exact directions to the nearest Starbucks never ceases to amaze me.

Now, suppose I were to take my GPS (not a smartphone that is connected to the Internet) and go to Australia and try to use it, would it work? Some satellites point there and everywhere—that is why they call it Global Positioning System (GPS). So, it should work, right? Well, with one adaptation, it would. I would need to install local maps into the system.

This is what hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on God’s Word does for us. It installs local maps. The GPS system is analogous to the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. But, just as the GPS needs local maps to work correctly, the Holy Spirit needs the Word planted in you. (James 1:21) Nothing does this better than Scripture Memory.

Josh Hunt, The 21 Laws of Discipleship (Good Questions, 2024).

Check out our Bible Study on the 21 Laws of Discipleship by Josh Hunt

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