Helping Others Grow toward Maturity in Christ
Doctrine: Understanding disciple-making as helping people mature in Christ through his Word, the Spirit’s power, and life within his church.
Devotion: Growing in the love, patience, prayerfulness, and integrity needed to invest in another person.
Discipling: Learning to read Scripture with someone, model a faithful response, and encourage practical steps toward maturity without creating dependence on ourselves.
Main passages: ;
Supporting passages: ; ; ;
Memory verse: , using the NET2 Bible.
Our Purpose
By the end of this session, we should be better able to explain what we are seeking when we help another person follow Jesus. We should also be prepared to begin a simple, sustainable pattern of Scripture, prayer, example, and encouragement with another believer.
Our aim is maturity in Christ, not dependence on a mentor or completion of a program. We want to help people know Christ more deeply, become increasingly like him, and participate in making him known. As they grow, they become better able to encourage others in the same life of faith.
1. Beginning Together
In Session 9, we considered speaking the good news with clarity, humility, and love. In Session 10, we widened our attention to Christ’s commission among the nations. We saw that his purpose involves making disciples, not simply attracting interest or recording initial responses.
We now focus on the patient work of helping particular people grow. What might it look like to walk alongside someone who wants to understand Scripture, learn to pray, face a difficult temptation, or become more faithful in ordinary relationships?
The word multiplying can sound like a numerical strategy. Here it describes something more personal: the good news taking root in people whose lives increasingly help others follow Christ. Numbers may tell part of a story, but they cannot tell us whether people are being loved, taught faithfully, or formed in Christlike character.
You do not need to know everything before encouraging someone. You do need humility, growing faithfulness, and a willingness to point beyond yourself to Christ and his Word.
Looking Back
How did your understanding of mission widen during the week? What did you learn as you prayed, welcomed someone, or considered a practical way to participate?
Discuss
- Who has helped you grow in Christ, and what did they do that was particularly helpful?
- What is the difference between helping someone become mature and making them dependent on you?
A Prayer to Begin
Father, thank you for the people through whom you have taught, encouraged, and cared for us. Form that same willingness in us. Give us wisdom to speak your truth, patience to listen, and integrity to live what we teach. By your Spirit, help us accompany others toward maturity in Christ. Amen.
2. Read — Christ Is the Goal, Love Is the Manner
Read in the NET2 Bible.
Paul describes the focus of his proclamation, the breadth of his concern, and the goal of his labor. He proclaims Christ, warns and teaches with wisdom, and works toward presenting people mature in him.
Notice how Paul joins strenuous effort with divine enabling. His dependence on Christ does not eliminate labor; it supplies the power for it.
Look Closely
- Whom does Paul proclaim?
- What activities does he identify as part of his ministry?
- What does the repeated concern for “everyone” suggest about the scope of his care?
- What is his goal, and what enables his labor?
Now read in the NET2 Bible.
Paul recalls the manner in which he and his coworkers served the Thessalonians. He uses family imagery to describe affection, gentleness, personal investment, example, and encouragement toward a life worthy of God.
These are descriptions of apostolic ministry from which we can learn. They do not give a mentor parental control over another adult. The emphasis is loving care and faithful conduct, not possession or domination.
Look Closely
- How does Paul describe his affection for the believers?
- What did he and his coworkers share besides the message?
- What place does their own conduct have in the passage?
- Toward what kind of life do they encourage the Thessalonians?
3. Doctrine — Receiving God’s Truth
Christ Is Both the Message and the Goal
Paul does not make himself the center of the people’s spiritual lives. He proclaims Christ and seeks their maturity in Christ. The person helping and the person receiving help both live under the same Lord.
This matters because discipleship can drift toward reproducing our preferences. We may assume that someone is growing when they use our language, adopt our routines, or agree with our judgments. Some shared practices can be helpful, but conformity to us is not the goal.
We want people to understand and trust Christ, receive his Word, and respond faithfully within their own responsibilities. Their personality, circumstances, and gifts may differ considerably from ours.
Healthy discipling therefore makes Christ increasingly central and the helper increasingly unnecessary as a source of permission for ordinary decisions.
Maturity Is More than Knowledge
Sound knowledge matters. Paul teaches and warns because truth and error have consequences. A person cannot grow faithfully by treating understanding as unimportant.
Yet maturity is not measured only by how much information someone can repeat. God’s truth is meant to shape trust, desires, conduct, and relationships. A person may know the vocabulary of grace while remaining harsh, defensive, or unwilling to receive correction.
This is why Doctrine, Devotion, and Discipling belong together. We learn what is true, respond to God personally, and express that response in life with others. None of these should become an isolated compartment.
A growing disciple becomes more able to bring Scripture to bear on life with wisdom, depend on Christ, love others, and recognize the need for continuing repentance and help.
God Uses Both His Word and Shared Life
In , sharing the gospel and sharing life belong together. The message is not replaced by friendship, and friendship is not treated as a technique for delivering information.
We need both. Scripture gives the truth by which we understand God and ourselves. Shared life provides opportunities to see that truth expressed in patience, generosity, honest confession, and costly faithfulness.
A conversation over a meal, a prayer during difficulty, or an apology after a misunderstanding may reinforce what has been taught. These ordinary moments can help another person see what trusting Christ looks like.
But our example is always subordinate to Scripture. We are fallible followers, not the standard by which Christ is measured.
Encouragement Includes Patient Correction
Paul describes both teaching and warning. Love does not require affirming every choice or avoiding uncomfortable conversations. Sometimes helping someone follow Christ includes naming a harmful pattern or correcting a misunderstanding.
Read . Restoration should be gentle, and the person offering help must remain watchful concerning their own vulnerability. We carry one another’s burdens without assuming that another person’s responsibilities become ours to control.
Correction should be specific, proportionate, and grounded in what God has actually said. We must distinguish clear disobedience from a difference in preference, personality, or judgment.
The aim is restoration and growth, not winning an argument or securing compliance. A faithful helper can speak firmly while remaining humble.
Growth Takes Place within Christ’s Body
Read .
The whole body grows under Christ as its members contribute in love. A one-to-one relationship can be valuable, but it should support belonging within the church rather than become a private spiritual system.
No single person can provide everything another believer needs. Pastors, teachers, friends, family members, and other mature Christians may each contribute. Appropriate professional care may also be needed for particular difficulties.
We should welcome these other relationships rather than feel threatened by them. The person belongs to Christ, not to us, and their growth is more important than our sense of importance.
We Labor in Dependence on God
Read and .
We cannot produce spiritual life or maturity by force of personality, planning, or persistence. Christ is the source of life, and God gives growth. This truth humbles our ambition and steadies us when progress is slow.
At the same time, Paul speaks of labor. Dependence is not carelessness. We prepare, listen, pray, follow through, and seek wisdom because the work matters.
We can be responsible without imagining that we are sovereign over another person’s future. Faithful service leaves room for God to work through people and circumstances we did not arrange.
4. Devotion — Becoming Someone Who Can Help Others Grow
Remain a Disciple Yourself
Helping others does not place us beyond our own need for correction, fellowship, and growth. We continue to receive the Word, confess sin, pray, and depend on Christ.
One danger is reading Scripture mainly to find something to teach someone else. Before asking how a passage applies to another person, let it address you. What does it reveal about God? Where does it correct your thinking or call for trust and obedience?
We do not need to have mastered every truth before sharing it. We do need to remain under the truth ourselves.
The most helpful posture is not, “I have arrived, and I will bring you here,” but, “Let us learn to follow Christ faithfully, drawing on what he has taught us.”
A Guided Practice: Pray, Notice, and Offer
Allow approximately ten to fifteen minutes. Keep open.
1. Remember the goal.
Read the passage slowly. Thank God that the aim is maturity in Christ rather than resemblance to you or dependence on your approval.
You might pray, Father, help me want this person’s growth in Christ more than I want to feel useful or successful.
2. Consider someone already in your life.
Think of a person who has expressed a desire to grow, asked a question, or welcomed spiritual encouragement. Do not assume that every relationship should become a formal mentoring arrangement.
Ask what you actually know about their needs and what remains uncertain. Let curiosity replace premature conclusions.
3. Examine your readiness to serve.
Consider your time, responsibilities, and willingness to listen. Are you able to offer a sustainable commitment? Are you seeking to help, or are you hoping to direct someone’s life?
Bring any pride, impatience, or reluctance honestly before God. Ask for the Spirit’s help to love within appropriate limits.
4. Offer a simple invitation.
You might say, “Would it be helpful to meet a few times, read a passage together, and pray about what we are learning?”
Give the person freedom to decline or suggest a different arrangement. Mutual willingness matters. A relationship imposed by one person is unlikely to foster honest participation.
5. Entrust the relationship to Christ.
Ask God to use whatever contact develops and to guide both of you toward the help you need. You are offering companionship in discipleship, not promising to supply every answer.
Pray for the Person, Not Merely the Problem
When someone struggles, our prayers can become narrowly focused on getting that difficulty resolved. It is good to ask for practical help, but we can also pray for deeper knowledge of Christ, growing trust, wise relationships, and perseverance.
Use Praise, Thanksgiving, Confession, Intercession, and Petition to keep prayer broad and personal. Praise God for who he is, thank him for evidences of grace, confess your own unhelpful responses, intercede for the person’s life, and ask for what is needed.
Do not make prayer a disguised lecture. Speak to God honestly rather than using the moment to tell the other person what you think they should do.
Learn to Notice Grace
Some growth is quiet. A person may ask for help sooner, admit wrongdoing more honestly, listen with less defensiveness, or persevere in a responsibility that once seemed impossible.
Name these things thoughtfully. “I noticed that you listened before responding” can encourage someone more helpfully than a vague declaration that they are doing wonderfully.
Do not exaggerate or offer reassurance where serious concerns remain. Encouragement is strongest when it is truthful. We can thank God for a step forward while acknowledging the work still needed.
Be Patient without Becoming Passive
People rarely grow in a straight line. A lesson understood intellectually may take time to become a settled pattern of life. Stress, suffering, and unfamiliar circumstances may reveal needs neither of you previously recognized.
Patience makes room for repeated practice and honest conversation. It does not mean avoiding every challenge or indefinitely postponing necessary action. Sometimes the loving response is to ask, “What is keeping you from taking the step you believe is right?”
Where a pattern creates danger or serious harm, ordinary informal encouragement may not be sufficient. Seek appropriate pastoral, safeguarding, or professional assistance rather than trying to carry the situation alone.
Keep Appropriate Boundaries
Agree on realistic expectations about meeting, communication, and privacy. Do not promise unlimited availability or secrecy regardless of what is disclosed.
Respect the person’s other relationships and responsibilities. Avoid becoming their sole confidant, financial rescuer, or decision-maker. Where safeguarding policies apply, follow them.
Boundaries do not weaken love. They help make care trustworthy and sustainable, and they remind both people that Christ’s provision is wider than one relationship.
5. Discipling — A Simple Pattern for Walking Together
Begin with the Person and a Passage
A meeting does not need to become a miniature sermon. Ask how the person is doing, listen for what matters, and choose an appropriate passage or continue through a book of Scripture together.
Let the passage speak in its context. Ask what it says about God, what the writer is communicating, and how that truth relates to the person’s situation.
Avoid selecting a verse merely because it appears to support advice you already want to give. Sometimes the first faithful response is to understand more carefully before deciding what application is appropriate.
Share: Understand the Truth Together
Invite the other person to explain what they notice. Ask questions rather than doing all the speaking.
If something is unclear, work through it together. It is appropriate to say, “I am not certain how that detail fits; let us look more carefully or ask someone who can help.”
The goal is not to display your knowledge. It is to help the person become more capable of reading Scripture responsibly and responding to God.
Model: Make the Response Visible
Where appropriate, share how the passage has addressed your own life. Be concrete and modest. Explain a decision, a correction you received, or a practice that has helped you remember and respond to the truth.
You can also model prayer, confession, careful listening, or a respectful conversation. Some aspects of following Christ become clearer when someone sees them practiced.
Make clear that your experience is an example, not a command. Another person may need a different practical response to the same biblical truth.
Guide: Choose One Faithful Response
Help the person identify a step that is specific and appropriate. It might involve prayer, an apology, a changed habit, asking for advice, serving someone, or continuing to investigate a question.
Useful questions include:
- What does this passage help you understand about Christ?
- Where does it encourage or correct you?
- What response seems appropriate?
- What help might you need?
- How can we revisit this next time?
Do not make every meeting produce a new assignment. Sometimes a person needs to continue practicing the previous response or remain with a truth that is not yet well understood.
Pray and Follow Up
Pray together in ordinary language. Invite participation without embarrassing someone who is not yet comfortable praying aloud.
At the next meeting, ask what they learned rather than simply whether they completed a task. Discuss what helped, what was difficult, and whether the step needs adjustment.
Over time, encourage the person to initiate questions, identify applications, and pray for others. Healthy support increases their responsible participation rather than keeping you permanently in charge.
Practice Together
Consider this fictional statement:
“I read the Bible, but I do not know how it connects with the way I speak to my family. I keep reacting sharply and then feeling discouraged.”
In pairs, practice a brief meeting using . Begin with a clarifying question, read the passage, and help the person identify one truth and one fitting response.
Do not attempt to solve the whole relationship. Practice listening, explaining, praying, and agreeing on a manageable next step. Then discuss whether your approach helped the person depend on Christ or mainly on your instructions.
6. Living This Session During the Week
With Christ
Return to and during your Scripture and prayer times. Ask God to form both the truthfulness and the affection these passages describe. Begin memorizing in NET2, keeping verse 29 alongside it so that the goal remains joined to dependence on God’s power.
With Others
Offer one simple opportunity to read Scripture and pray with someone who welcomes it. If you are not ready to initiate this, ask a mature believer to help you learn by participating in an appropriate setting.
In Everyday Life
Practice one quality that will make you a more faithful companion: patient listening, reliable follow-through, honest confession, or thoughtful encouragement. Receive help in your own area of need rather than concentrating only on what you can provide.
When We Meet Again
Come ready to share what you learned about accompanying another person or receiving help yourself. In the final session, we will consider how to equip people to carry this life forward and help others in turn.
7. Closing — Lives That Help Other Lives Grow
The good news bears fruit as people come to know Christ and increasingly live in fellowship with him. God uses his Word, his Spirit, and the loving service of his people in that growth.
We participate through patient relationships: teaching, listening, modeling, warning, encouraging, and praying. We do not own the people we help or produce their maturity by our strength. We serve them under Christ, trusting him to work.
As they grow, their lives become a source of help to others. This is multiplication rooted in grace: people receiving life in Christ and learning to share his truth and love faithfully.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for everyone you have used to help us follow Jesus. Make us willing to offer that same care to others. Keep Christ at the center of our teaching and our hopes. Give us patience to listen, wisdom to guide, courage to correct gently, and humility to receive correction ourselves. Guard us from control, pride, and discouragement. By your Spirit, use our shared lives to help one another mature in Christ and become faithful encouragements to others. Amen.