115 Bible Verses about discipleship, nature of

The writings of the prophets say, And they will all have teaching from God. Everyone whose ears have been open to the teaching of the Father comes to me.

And all your builders will be made wise by the Lord; and great will be the peace of your children.

For I am the Lord your God: for this reason, make and keep yourselves holy, for I am holy; you are not to make yourselves unclean with any sort of thing which goes about flat on the earth. For I am the Lord, who took you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; so be you holy, for I am holy.

And another of the disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father. But Jesus said to him, Come after me; and let the dead take care of their dead.

Say to all the people of Israel, You are to be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.

And straight away they let go the nets and went after him.

So make and keep yourselves holy, for I am the Lord your God.

And they went straight from their nets, and came after him.

Let it then be your desire to be like God, as well-loved children; And be living in love, even as Christ had love for you, and gave himself up for us, an offering to God for a perfume of a sweet smell.

And let our people go on with good works for necessary purposes, so that they may not be without fruit.

But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy; Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.

And they went straight from the boat and their father and came after him.

Be turned from evil, and do good; make a search for peace, desiring it with all your heart.

Take my yoke on you and become like me, for I am gentle and without pride, and you will have rest for your souls;

And he said, Come after me: and they went away from their father Zebedee, who was in the boat with the servants, and came after him.

Be turned from evil, and do good; and your place will be for ever.

I have given you an example, so that you may do what I have done to you.

And when they had got their boats to the land, they gave up everything and went after him.

Take pleasure in well-doing; let your ways be upright, keep down the cruel, give a right decision for the child who has no father, see to the cause of the widow.

For this was not the teaching of Christ which was given to you; If in fact you gave ear to him, and were given teaching in him, even as what is true is made clear in Jesus:

And that he underwent death for all, so that the living might no longer be living to themselves, but to him who underwent death for them and came back from the dead.

In the night the desire of my soul has been for you; early will my spirit be searching for you; for when your punishments come on the earth, the people of the world will get the knowledge of righteousness.

Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus,

For every man's life and every man's death has a relation to others as well as to himself. As long as we have life we are living to the Lord; or if we give up our life it is to the Lord; so if we are living, or if our life comes to an end, we are the Lord's.

And he said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps:

So that you may give the rest of your lives in the flesh, not to the desires of men, but to the purpose of God.

And Jesus said to them, Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

He who says that he is living in him, will do as he did.

Then, after washing their feet and putting on his robe again, he took his seat and said to them, Do you see what I have done to you? You give me the name of Master and Lord: and you are right; that is what I am. If then I, the Lord and the Master, have made your feet clean, it is right for you to make one another's feet clean.read more.
I have given you an example, so that you may do what I have done to you. Truly I say to you, A servant is not greater than his lord; and he who is sent is not greater than the one who sent him. If these things are clear to you, happy are you if you do them.

And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in the boat with their father, stitching up their nets; and he said, Come.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will be your teacher in all things and will put you in mind of everything I have said to you.

Even as the Father has given me his love, so I have given my love to you: be ever in my love. If you keep my laws, you will be ever in my love, even as I have kept my Father's laws, and am ever in his love. I have said these things to you so that I may have joy in you and so that your joy may be complete.read more.
This is the law I give you: Have love one for another, even as I have love for you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man gives up his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I give you orders to do.

For the Holy Spirit will make clear to you in that very hour what to say.

However, when he, the Spirit of true knowledge, has come, he will be your guide into all true knowledge: for his words will not come from himself, but whatever has come to his hearing, that he will say: and he will make clear to you the things to come.

He who has more love for his father or mother than for me is not good enough for me; he who has more love for son or daughter than for me is not good enough for me. And he who does not take his cross and come after me is not good enough for me. He who has the desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, and he who gives up his life because of me will have it given back to him.

And he said to another, Come after me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father. But he said to him, Let the dead take care of their dead; it is for you to go and give news of the kingdom of God.

And these are the things which we say, not in the language of man's wisdom, but in words given to us by the Spirit, judging the things of the spirit by the help of the Spirit.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross, and come after me. Because whoever has a desire to keep his life safe will have it taken from him; but whoever gives up his life because of me, will have it given back to him.

And when Jesus was going from there, he saw a man whose name was Matthew, seated at the place where taxes were taken; and he said to him, Come after me. And he got up and went after him.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;

And turning to the mass of people with his disciples, he said to them, If any man has the desire to come after me, let him give up all other desires, and take up his cross and come after me. Whoever has a desire to keep his life, will have it taken from him; and whoever gives up his life because of me and the good news, will keep it.

And when he went by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and he said to him, Come with me. And he got up, and went with him.

That in the wealth of his glory he would make you strong with power through his Spirit in your hearts; So that Christ may have his place in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and based in love, May have strength to see with all the saints how wide and long and high and deep it is,read more.
And to have knowledge of the love of Christ which is outside all knowledge, so that you may be made complete as God himself is complete.

And he said to them all, If any man has a desire to come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross every day, and come after me. For whoever has a desire to keep his life will have it taken from him, but whoever gives up his life because of me, will keep it.

And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.

And after these things he went out, and saw Levi, a tax-farmer, seated at the place where taxes were taken, and said to him, Come after me.

And he said that they were to take nothing for their journey, but a stick only; no bread, no bag, no money in their pockets;

Jesus said to him, If you have a desire to be complete, go, get money for your property, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come after me.

The things which came to you by my teaching and preaching, and which you saw in me, these things do, and the God of peace will be with you.

And turning round, he said to them, If any man comes to me, and has not hate for his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even for his life, he may not be my disciple. Whoever does not take up his cross and come after me may not be my disciple.

And Jesus, looking on him and loving him, said, There is one thing needed: go, get money for your goods, and give it to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven: and come with me.

If anyone makes an attempt to keep his life, it will be taken from him, but if anyone gives up his life, he will keep it.

That day when you were waiting before the Lord your God in Horeb, and the Lord said to me, Make all the people come together, so that hearing my words they may go in fear of me all the days of their life on earth and give this teaching to their children.

And Jesus, hearing it, said to him, One thing you still have need of; get money for your goods, and give it away to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven; and come after me.

He who is in love with life will have it taken from him; and he who has no care for his life in this world will keep it for ever and ever.

And Moses sent for all Israel, and said to them, Give ear, O Israel, to the laws and the decisions which I give you today, and give attention to them so that you may keep and do them.

The day after this, Jesus had a desire to go into Galilee. He came across Philip and said to him, Come and be my disciple.

That you are to put away, in relation to your earlier way of life, the old man, which has become evil by love of deceit; And be made new in the spirit of your mind, And put on the new man, to which God has given life, in righteousness and a true and holy way of living.

Make all the people come together, men and women and children, and anyone from another country who is with you, so that hearing they may become wise in the fear of the Lord your God, and take care to do all the words of this law;

Now this he said, pointing out the sort of death by which he would give God glory. And after saying this, he said to him, Come after me.

My brothers, it is because of you that I have taken Apollos and myself as examples of these things, so that in us you might see that it is not wise to go farther than what is in the holy Writings, so that no one of you may be lifted up against his brother.

Be then complete in righteousness, even as your Father in heaven is complete.

And he who does not take his cross and come after me is not good enough for me.

The disciple is not greater than his master, but everyone whose learning is complete will be like his master.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any man would come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross, and come after me.

So take me for your example, even as I take Christ for mine.

Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:

Brothers, take me as your example, and take note of those who are walking after the example we have given.

And turning to the mass of people with his disciples, he said to them, If any man has the desire to come after me, let him give up all other desires, and take up his cross and come after me.

For this reason I make request to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you will give your bodies as a living offering, holy, pleasing to God, which is the worship it is right for you to give him. And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind, so that by experience you may have knowledge of the good and pleasing and complete purpose of God.

And he said to them all, If any man has a desire to come after me, let him give up all, and take up his cross every day, and come after me.

For you yourselves are used to taking us as your example, because our life among you was ruled by order,

Whoever does not take up his cross and come after me may not be my disciple.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not give thought to the flesh to do its desires.

Let a woman quietly take the place of a learner and be under authority.

My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me:

But we all, with unveiled face giving back as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord who is the Spirit.

But if any widow has children or children's children, let these see that it is right to take care of their family and their fathers and mothers: for this is pleasing in the eyes of God.

But see that you keep to the teaching you have been given and the things of which you are certain, conscious of who has been your teacher;

Because God, then, will give us such rewards, dear brothers, let us make ourselves clean from all evil of flesh and spirit, and become completely holy in the fear of God.

If any man is my servant, let him come after me; and where I am, there will my servant be. If any man becomes my servant, my Father will give him honour.

Even as he made selection of us in him from the first, so that we might be holy and free from all evil before him in love:

These are they who have not made themselves unclean with women; for they are virgins. These are they who go after the Lamb wherever he goes. These were taken from among men to be the first fruits to God and to the Lamb.

Whom we are preaching; guiding and teaching every man in all wisdom, so that every man may be complete in Christ;

Being certain that the Lord will give you the reward of the heritage: for you are the servants of the Lord Christ.

As saints of God, then, holy and dearly loved, let your behaviour be marked by pity and mercy, kind feeling, a low opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, and a power of undergoing all things;

But Jesus said to them, You see that the rulers of the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them. Let it not be so among you: but if anyone has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant; And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him take the lowest place:read more.
Even as the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

So that the man of God may be complete, trained and made ready for every good work.

And Jesus made them come to him, and said to them, You see that those who are made rulers over the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them. But it is not so among you: but whoever has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant: And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him be servant of all.read more.
For truly the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men.

Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge: But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;

Be not slow in your work, but be quick in spirit, as the Lord's servants;

So, for this very cause, take every care; joining virtue to faith, and knowledge to virtue, And self-control to knowledge, and a quiet mind to self-control, and fear of God to a quiet mind, And love of the brothers to fear of God, and to love of the brothers, love itself.

For they themselves give the news of how we came among you; and how you were turned from images to God, to the worship of a true and living God,

My loved ones, now we are children of God, and at present it is not clear what we are to be. We are certain that at his revelation we will be like him; for we will see him as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him makes himself holy, even as he is holy.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had faith in him, If you keep my word, then you are truly my disciples;

Now there was among the Pharisees a man named Nicodemus, who was one of the rulers of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we are certain that you have come from God as a teacher, because no man would be able to do these signs which you do if God was not with him.

He who has my laws and keeps them, he it is who has love for me: and he who has love for me will be loved by my Father, and I will have love for him and will let myself be seen clearly by him.

Nicodemus--he who had come to Jesus before, being himself one of them--said to them,

If you keep my laws, you will be ever in my love, even as I have kept my Father's laws, and am ever in his love.

And by this we may be certain that we have knowledge of him, if we keep his laws.

And he gives us all our requests, because we keep his laws and do the things which are pleasing in his eyes.

For loving God is keeping his laws: and his laws are not hard.

And Jesus came to them and said, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go then, and make disciples of all the nations, giving them baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to keep all the rules which I have given you: and see, I am ever with you, even to the end of the world.

You are the light of the world. A town put on a hill may be seen by all. And a burning light is not put under a vessel, but on its table; so that its rays may be shining on all who are in the house. Even so let your light be shining before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

And the things which I have said to you before a number of witnesses, give to those of the faith, so that they may be teachers of others.

And he gave some as Apostles, and some, prophets; and some, preachers of the good news; and some to give care and teaching; For the training of the saints as servants in the church, for the building up of the body of Christ: Till we all come to the harmony of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to full growth, to the full measure of Christ:read more.
So that we may be no longer children, sent this way and that, turned about by every wind of teaching, by the twisting and tricks of men, by the deceits of error; But saying true words in love, may come to full growth in him, who is the head, even Christ; Through whom all the body, being rightly formed and united together, by the full working of every part, is increased to the building up of itself in love. This I say, then, and give witness in the Lord, that you are to go no longer in the way of the Gentiles whose minds are turned to that which has no profit,

And they kept their attention fixed on the Apostles' teaching and were united together in the taking of broken bread and in prayer.

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had faith in him, If you keep my word, then you are truly my disciples; And you will have knowledge of what is true, and that will make you free.

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He takes away every branch in me which has no fruit, and every branch which has fruit he makes clean, so that it may have more fruit. You are clean, even now, through the teaching which I have given you.read more.
Be in me at all times as I am in you. As the branch is not able to give fruit of itself, if it is not still on the vine, so you are not able to do so if you are not in me. I am the vine, you are the branches: he who is in me at all times as I am in him, gives much fruit, because without me you are able to do nothing. If a man does not keep himself in me, he becomes dead and is cut off like a dry branch; such branches are taken up and put in the fire and burned. If you are in me at all times, and my words are in you, then anything for which you make a request will be done for you. Here is my Father's glory, in that you give much fruit and so are my true disciples. Even as the Father has given me his love, so I have given my love to you: be ever in my love. If you keep my laws, you will be ever in my love, even as I have kept my Father's laws, and am ever in his love. I have said these things to you so that I may have joy in you and so that your joy may be complete. This is the law I give you: Have love one for another, even as I have love for you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man gives up his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I give you orders to do. No longer do I give you the name of servants; because a servant is without knowledge of what his master is doing: I give you the name of friends, because I have given you knowledge of all the things which my Father has said to me. You did not take me for yourselves, but I took you for myself; and I gave you the work of going about and producing fruit which will be for ever; so that whatever request you make to the Father in my name he may give it to you. So this is my law for you: Have love one for another.

I give you a new law: Have love one for another; even as I have had love for you, so are you to have love one for another. By this it will be clear to all men that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.

And turning round, he said to them, If any man comes to me, and has not hate for his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even for his life, he may not be my disciple.

And so whoever is not ready to give up all he has may not be my disciple.

But let your words be in agreement with true and right teaching: That old men are to be simple in their tastes, serious, wise, true in faith, in love, and of a quiet mind. That old women are to be self-respecting in behaviour, not saying evil of others, not given to taking much wine, teachers of that which is good,read more.
Training the younger women to have love for their husbands and children, To be wise in mind, clean in heart, kind; working in their houses, living under the authority of their husbands; so that no evil may be said of the word of God. To the young men give orders to be wise and serious-minded: In all things see that you are an example of good works; holy in your teaching, serious in behaviour, Saying true and right words, against which no protest may be made, so that he who is not on our side may be put to shame, unable to say any evil of us.

And when they were on the way, a certain man said to him, I will come after you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have resting-places, but the Son of man has nowhere to put his head. And he said to another, Come after me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and give the last honours to my father.read more.
But he said to him, Let the dead take care of their dead; it is for you to go and give news of the kingdom of God. And another man said, I will come with you, Lord, but first let me say a last good-day to those who are at my house. But Jesus said, No man, having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is good enough for the kingdom of God.