When I was younger, I was invariably confused when church leaders would talk of apostles and disciples of Christ. I always believed they were one and the same. When I look up the definition of apostle it says that they are the chief disciples of Christ. So, what or rather who, is a disciple of Christ? According to the dictionary, a disciple of Christ is anyone who follows Him. This week in Come Follow Me we were asked to look for characteristics of disciples of Christ, so I also made that my scripture study focus this week.
The first characteristic I found was in the first chapter of 3 Nephi. In this chapter the unbelievers decide that if the sign of Christ's birth does not happen by a certain day, then they will kill all those who believe in Christ. What I pulled from this story was how disciples of Christ believe in Him even when everyone else does not and they continue to believe in Him though facing insurmountable odds. Throughout my week I noticed a common theme in attributes that disciples of Christ should practice, that was being humble, focusing on Christ, and serving God's children, which all the other virtues point back to. Think of the first characteristic I mentioned, when we are humbly focused on Christ we know that despite any trial or temptation that comes our way, Christ will reward us for doing His work and not giving up our faith in Him.
I think what can often happen when we decide we want to try to be more like Christ is that we start noticing all our shortcomings and get overwhelmed. One distinction of a disciple of Christ I found as I studied Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf's most recent conference talk was how we do not have to be perfect to be devoted to our Savior. We just need to have a desire to increase our faith in Him and strive to draw nearer to Him everyday. Part of doing that is inviting the power of godliness into our lives by receiving priesthood ordinances and making and keeping sacred covenants (which was a characteristic of disciples of Christ found in Elder David A. Bednar's most recent conference talk).
Though being a disciple of Jesus Christ is often not easy, if we decide that we are willing to do what it takes to keep the commandments of God, our covenants, and take Christ's name upon us, we will receive the blessings God has in store for those who aim for celestial glory. God loves us and wants us to return to Him someday, but we can't if we don't try and we can't if we don't hope. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said in our most recent conference that, "We all need to believe that what we desire in righteousness can someday, someway, somehow yet be ours." I believe that God has things prepared for each one of us that we cannot comprehend, if we choose to be a stalwart disciple of our Savior Jesus Christ.
(Picture from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
Love,
Kenzie
