The relationship between Jesus and Peter, I believe, is one of the best examples we have in the Bible of a mentor and their disciple. In the Bible, we see examples of it everywhere: Moses trained up Joshua. Elijah taught Elisha. Eli groomed Samuel for ministry, who in turn, guided Saul and David. Paul wrote to Timothy to help mature him into his ministry. Even right now, I’m sure someone is coming to mind as your spiritual adviser, your emotional sounding board, or your big brother/sister in Christ.

God, help me fully be a disciple of all that you are. Lead me to all the hurting people in my life, the ones with unseen hurt, and help me lavish your love upon them. I want to be someone known for the fearless pursuit of others and a boldness that completely glorifies your kingdom. It can be easy to comfort and minister to those I care for, Lord, but to minister to my enemies– those who oppose me– that’s a whole new battlefield.

How do we follow Jesus? Recently, I’ve come to learn that the answers are so simple: to follow Jesus, we must look at him and remain behind Him. These lessons are thanks to the endlessly cool Eric Gilmore, who I had the unique opportunity to spend a Saturday with at a School of His Presence conference. It seems elementary, but I’m starting to learn that we tend to try and complicate the simple truths of God’s beautiful gospel. At the end of the day, our heady qualifications and lofty, theological thoughts are not the prerequisites to living a life submitted to Christ.