Growing Deeper in Your Faith: 5 Mindsets of a Disciple

Trust me, you don't need to take a vow of silence and live in a cave to produce the top-level mindset of a disciple. Growing deeper in your faith most often produces a more profound disciple mindset, however having the proper perspective can mean the difference between spinning your wheels and actually making progress.

Don't forget, God will ask: but you can say no. That means having a disciple's mindset will open you up to growing deeper in your faith and walking more closely with Christ each and every day.

That disciple's mindset means setting your perspective, heart, and devotion all to align with Christ's teachings and the word of God.

Now, the man who has been filled with the Holy Spirit has the power, courage, faith, and energy to follow the direction of the Lord...but he still must choose to be obedient.

Any Christian worth their salt will tell you, "Oh yeah. The Lord told me to do this or that thing, and I just didn't do it."

So kiss your wife and kids goodbye, shave your head, and start on the journey of becoming a disciple who is squarely focused on growing deeper in your faith.

Or just internalize these values and grow in understanding what it means to have the disciple's mindset.

1) Single-minded Means Growing Deeper in Your Faith

Growing deeper in your faith means setting your heart, mind, body, soul, and strength towards the Lord. It means determining within yourself that He is your ultimate goal. A single-minded man may seem a bit obsessed by the world's standards, but notice how apathetic most of the world is to everything around them.

The mindset of a disciple means a person must be focused and not swayed by anything else. Christ must be our all in all. Our minds, when offered a choice or decision, must lean into the right choice (which is often the hard choice). If we at all believe we can compromise, then we've lost the battle.

In Scripture, Christ quickly cuts between Himself and the possession that may top the list of things that draw us away from Christ. This possession gives us the biggest opportunity for compromise. And while a person may own it and serve Christ, he cannot be owned by both.

In Matthew 6:24, Christ states, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Wealth is a perfect example of the dangerous game we play when we compromise. Our minds/hearts tell us, "It's okay to seek after this. You still love the Lord." And if we allow such thoughts or desires to entice us, then we can begin to lean away from growing deeper in our faith and instead lean towards the cares of the world.

Too often, we think we can be double-minded, aka divided within ourselves, and still serve Christ. The issue is that we lose both if we strive for both. We cannot have both. We cannot hold both.

Trust me, it's tempting to try to grab hold of everything in life. And Satan makes the promise lavishly enticing, but in the end, it merely draws you away from Christ.

The trick is to understand: am I divided because of my desires? If it's your desires that are slowly separating you from your passion for Christ, then it's a good bet your desires are being used against you.

Instead, you must be convinced in your own mind (a disciple's mindset) that it is Christ above all and that there is no compromise to be had. Anytime something begins to become an idol and you slowly place it in Christ's place in your heart, you must strike that thing away and go back to Christ.

Become single-minded, and you'll be growing deeper in your faith in no time.

2) Devoted Means Growing Deeper in Your Faith

A true disciple, who has a disciple's mindset completely devotes himself to the one he follows. In ancient times, a disciple (much like the ones who followed Christ and became the apostles) followed their teacher everywhere the teacher went. They lived with the teacher and grew in their faith.

You can grow deeper in your faith if you choose to be a devoted disciple of Christ.

Thankfully, we don't just follow a teacher. We follow a king. However, that also means there is a responsibility placed on us.

A king requires full and complete submission to the vision of the kingdom. He requires everything we are. In Deuteronomy 6:5, it says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

The word "all" appears several times and gives us no room for an out. A devoted disciple lives single-mindedly towards their king and approaches that relationship with devotion.

As representatives of the king, we show our honor and respect by being submitted in nature to His cause. John 14:15 says, "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

This means we follow His commandments, which means abiding by the word of the Lord. However, our relationship with the Lord is not based on the results of the works or deeds we do. It's based on the relationship we've built with Him as we love Him and His commands.

If you wish to grow deeper in your faith and want to achieve the disciple's mindset, then devotion is a prerequisite. It cannot be done without total devotion.

3) Extreme faith Means Growing Deeper in Your Faith

Want extreme faith? Hoping you can someday put all of your faith and reliance on the Lord? Want to grow deeper in your faith to the point that your faith is considered extreme even by other Christians?

Then change your perspective. We have an opportunity in every situation to see the events as under the Lord's control and for His purpose, or a situation outside of the Lord's control and that He's not trustworthy (aka, we have to do it all ourselves.)

Extreme faith means taking those hard events and turning them on their head. It means that in the fit of the moment, when everything seems to be falling apart quickly, you say to yourself, "No, I'm going to trust in the Lord in complete faith."

Faith comes from the Holy Spirit, but we can choose to align with that faith and walk the pathway of faith, or ignore the gentle guidance of the Lord and get carried away by our own thoughts and lies.

Walking the pathway of faith means building a heart and mind that automatically relies on foundational truths of who Christ is and that His promises are true.

Christ encourages us to pursue faith without doubt, so growing in your faith means internalizing what Christ says and applying it...even when we don't feel like it or our thoughts are negative and rough.

In Mark 11:22-24, it says, "And Jesus answered saying to them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.'"

Christ tells us what to do.

We will have times in life in which we don't want to do that. We don't want to put that foot forward. But what matters is the actual decision we make. Our decision, not our spouted words or our intellectual agreement with a belief, is what matters.

And the joy of a righteous decision? It may not always be an easy step onto the runaway train of faith. It may take pulling our feet through the emotional mud of life and keeping our eyes on the truth that a righteous decision is what we're called to do – despite how we feel.

In Proverbs 3:5-6, we're told, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

4) A Warrior Mindset Means Growing Deeper in Your Faith

If you're a man seeking to grow deeper in your faith and you can't put on a warrior mindset, then you will be beaten down at every turn. At some point, a person comes to a crossroads and must determine whether they are going to stand up and fight against the kingdom of darkness, or if they're going to allow the kingdom of darkness to surround them.

We are living in enemy territory, but that means all the more we should carry a warrior's mindset.

Growing deeper in your faith means understanding that a disciple's mindset is in fact a warrior's mindset. After all, a warrior recognizes that all obstacles can be overcome with the proper solution. They don't just battle. They are determined in their mind that they will win. And they do…no matter the opposition.

While the term "warrior mindset" doesn't show up in Scripture, we're admonished to be warriors in daily life.

Ephesians 6:10-11, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil."

No warrior is told to wear armor when he is at peace and isn't at risk of danger. A warrior is commanded to don his complete set of armor when danger is coming and it is time for him to step into his warrior role.

And the expectation set for a true warrior? He will don his armor and CRUSH any opposition that threatens him or those he has sworn to protect.

We as Christians are serving during a time of spiritual war. This means our spiritual armor must always be well-kept and fitting correctly.

If you want to grow deeper in your faith, then you need to become a warrior. Put on the complete armor of God, train in spiritual warfare, and prepare your heart and mind for the battle ahead. Be convinced in your own mind that no matter what, you will prevail against darkness.

Paul tells Timothy to "fight the good fight of faith" in 1 Timothy 6:12, making it clear that our faith journey on this earth will not be easy, but it will be a good fight and a righteous fight.

5) A Sacrificial Love Means Growing Deeper in Your Faith

We're called to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all that we are. We're also called to love our neighbor as ourselves. And whether we like it or not, we're even called to love our enemies.

A disciple's mindset requires a selfless love that is willing to sacrifice because that love we carry is so great. Christ said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

As you learn how to selflessly and sacrificially love others, you'll learn how to grow deeper in your faith, which will support the capacity to sacrifice even more.

Think about it.

If you grow in faith, then that expanded faith means more trust in the Lord. The more you trust in the love and goodness of God, the more likely you are to become more loving, selfless, and sacrificial for those around you.

A true man recognizes that he is not his own. He is owned by his God, his family, his neighbors, his community, and even perhaps his nation. That ownership is not a complete and utter possession, but a committing of our love and dedication to them. We place our submitted nature in their hands. We devote ourselves to their provision and goodness. We honor those around us by giving our hearts, lives, and honor to others.

And our teacher, Jesus Christ, gave the ultimate sacrifice in the most selfless act of love.

In 1 John 3:16-18, it says, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."

Our love is expressed through our giving, whether spiritually or physically. Our love is shown through the giving of ourselves. Just as Christ made Himself low and gave completely of Himself (even to His enemies), He showed the ultimate standard of becoming a true man.

Do you want to grow deeper in your faith? Then learn what it means to love selflessly, humbly, and in a joyful sacrifice.

A disciple's Mindset - The Key to Growing Deeper in Your Faith

Growing deeper in your faith is not always an easy journey, but it is the most important journey of your life. Having a disciple's mindset means you'll put yourself in the best position to properly grow.

Our hearts need to be devoted to our Lord. Our minds need to be ready to continually align with our Lord. And our bodies need to be taught to come into subjection under the Lord.

Do you want to grow deeper in your faith? Then take on the disciple's mindset with these 5 scriptural values, and you will become a true man of faith.