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Students | Protect // The Vineyard Initiative

Students | Protect // The Vineyard Initiative

Date:3/10/19

Series: The Vineyard Initiative 2019

Category: Students

Speaker: Justin Ulmer

The Seven Verbs of Discipleship is a disciple making tool created by Justin Ulmer; it consists of seven principles that point to the ongoing actions of effective disciples of Jesus Christ.

The 2nd Verb of Discipleship:  Protect
When you're given something of great value, you protect it.  If you were given a vineyard on a rich and fertile hill, you would have everything you need to support yourself and your family for the rest of your life.  And if someone tried to steal it or destroy it, of course you would protect it.  In this life we will never possess anything more valuable than our relationship with Jesus.  Protecting that relationship by establishing healthy boundaries is the second step in becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.

How is Protecting an act of discipleship?
We establish healthy boundaries in order to protect ourselves from falling back into the sin that Jesus rescued us from when we first received his love.  The easiest way to do this is to take a good, long look at our personal environment in order to help us understand how and where we might need to protect ourselves from unnecessary temptations.  As a disciple, a good question to ask yourself would be: “Is there anything in my room, my relationships, my environment, that might tempt me to sin?”  For example, if you know you struggle with substance abuse, you would want to get rid of anything and everything in your personal space that might enable you to act on that addiction.  Likewise, if you have friends who you just can't say "no" to, you might want to take a hard look at those relationships and decide if any changes need to be made for a season.  In addition, getting connected to an authentic community of faith is a great step toward establishing a safe and healthy environment.

The Seven Verbs of Discipleship
The Sevenapples App

 


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