Rationale

Jesus taught that He was the True Vine and His disciples were the branches. As branches who abide in Him, believers will bear fruit. The following Likert Scale is designed to evaluate the marks or fruit of a growing disciple. Since Jesus clearly indicated that disciples would bear fruit (John 15:1-16, Matthew 7:15-19), some fruitfulness is expected and necessary to be a growing disciple. In light of this, the scale has been given a numeric value from (0), a strongly disagree or never response, to (10), a strongly agree or always response. It is expected that some marks will be stronger and others weaker. Each of us is on a spiritual journey. The longer a believer has been walking in the Spirit and abiding in God’s Word, the more likely they will score higher in each of the ten marks. Spiritual growth is dynamic. Our goal is to be conformed to the image of Jesus. (Romans 8:28-29, 2 Corinthians 3:17-18)

 

Directions

For each statement, respond as honestly as possible. It may be helpful to set aside time to be still and ask God for clarity. Try not to answer as you think you should but be as honest as possible in appraising your spiritual experience. Pray the prayer of Psalm 139:23-24 and ask God to search your heart. Trust that the Holy Spirit will speak to you and guide you into the truth of each response (John 16:13-15). For each statement, respond with either: Strongly disagree or never true (0); somewhat disagree (1-4); 50-50 agree/disagree (5); somewhat agree (6-9); strongly agree or always true (10). It is not expected that you will score 6-10 on every response. Next to each statement, write the numeric value of your response. After taking the entire inventory, add the numeric value for each discipleship mark and record it in the total space. Once you have totaled each mark, compute your cumulative point value for the entire inventory of all ten marks. Compare each of the totals for all ten marks. You will be able to see your highest and lowest discipleship marks. Your cumulative sum can also be compared to past and future evaluations to see your growth journey in discipleship.

 

Ten Marks of a Growing Disciple

Mark 1–A growing disciple has surrendered to Jesus’ Lordship and daily puts Him first in their life (Luke 14:25-35, Matthew 16:24-25, Romans 12:1-2, Exodus 20:1-3)

1. I can clearly point to a time in my life when I surrendered the control of my life to Jesus Christ _____
2. I make daily decisions to deny myself, take up my cross and follow Jesus _____
3. I regularly ask God to search my heart and expose anything that is interfering with my relationship with Him so that I may repent and live under His Lordship _____
4. I have actively surrendered my relationships, my self-interests, my finances and every part of life to Jesus _____
5. I can see evidence of life change where I have turned from doing what I wanted to follow Jesus’ will for my life _____
6. When I understand what God wants me to do, I ask for His help and I do it _____
7. My family, friends and co-workers all know that Jesus is the Lord of my life _____
8. I have fully internalized and presently act upon Jesus’ command to deny myself and follow Him _____
9. I am not conscious of any area of my life that I have not fully surrendered to Jesus ____
10. I have put to death anything that would be an idol in my life in order to follow Jesus _____

Total _____

Mark 2–A growing disciple abides in God’s Word by practicing the disciplines of Bible Intake and obedience to Scripture (John 8:30-32, James 1:22-25, 2 Timothy 2:15, Psalm 1)

1. I spend time every day in God’s Word _____
2. I practice the disciplines of Reading, Study, Memorization and Meditation _____
3. I am regularly gaining new insights from Scripture I am reading and studying _____
4. When I receive God’s Word, I think and pray about how to apply it in my life _____
5. I am increasingly a doer of God’s Word and not just a hearer _____
6. I have seen areas of my life transformed and set free as I have applied God’s Word _____
7. I have developed habits of righteousness in my life as a direct result of applying Scripture ____
8. I live by a Biblical worldview and evaluate all my decisions in light of the teaching of Scripture ____
9. I have deep Biblical convictions about the essentials of Christian belief knowing what the Bible teaches and where it is taught ____
10. I let God’s Word abide in me and I speak to other’s with Scriptural encouragement and blessing ___

Total _____

Mark 3–A growing disciple loves God and others (Matthew 22:36-40, 1 John 4:7-18, John 13:34-35, Deuteronomy 30:19-20)

1. I have a big view of God and am in increasing awe of His greatness and goodness ____
2. My passion for God overflows in songs of praise and prayers of thanksgiving ____
3. I am motivated by my love for God to obey His commands and do what He says _____
4. I fellowship with God’s people weekly to worship the Lord and connect with one another _____
5. I have life-giving relationships of truth and grace with other believers _____
6. I proactively serve my fellowman, looking for how I can help meet their needs _____
7. I seek to do unto others as I would have them do unto me _____
8. I am able to love my enemies and forgive those who wrong me _____
9. I am completely secure in God’s love for me and am able to share His love with others ____
10. I consistently connect my obedience to Jesus’ commandments with my love for Him and people ____

Total _____

Mark 4–A growing disciple bears the fruit of Jesus in their life (John 15:1-8, Matthew 7:15-20, Galatians 5:22-23, Jeremiah 17:7-8)

1. My character is continually being shaped to become more like Jesus ____
2. There is a consistency between my words and my actions in reflecting Jesus to others _____
3. I clearly understand my role is to abide and Jesus’ role is to produce fruit _____
4. I am prayerful and intentional about bearing Christ’s fruit in my life _____
5. I can look at my Christian journey and see tangible transformation and growth _____
6. I can confidently say that Jesus has changed my life and is changing my life _____
7. I practice spiritual disciplines that connect me to Jesus and help me express Jesus to others _____
8. I consistently live in and manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my character, actions, words and relationships ____
9. My light shines before men in such a way that they see my good works and glorify my Father in heaven ____
10. If I was on trial for being a Christian, there is more than enough evidence by my lifestyle to convict me ____

Total _____

Mark 5–A growing disciple experiences the power and work of the Holy Spirit (John 14:17-26, Acts 1:8, Romans 8:1-17, Zechariah 4:6)

1. I understand that I have been born again by the Spirit and that the Spirit’s ministry is to make me more like Jesus and produce His life in me _____
2. I daily and moment by moment live a Spirit filled life _____
3. I see the fruit of the Spirit in my words, actions and relationships ____
4. I experience the Spirit’s power giving me victory over temptation and sin _____
5. I experience the power of the Spirit enabling me to serve, witness and live for Jesus _____
6. I regularly hear the voice of the Spirit speaking and leading me from Scripture, prayer, worship and in personal guidance _____
7. I put on the full armor of God to fight the spiritual battle and stand firm against the devil and his schemes _____
8. I daily ask for and receive the work of the Spirit helping me live the Christian life ____
9. I can tangibly see in my spiritual journey how the Holy Spirit is transforming me to be more like Jesus ____
10. I can explain from God’s Word what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit and how to live a Spirit filled life ____

Total _____

Mark 6–A growing disciple lives in the supernatural union of their identity with Christ (Romans 6:1-14, Ephesians 2:1-10, Colossians 2:6-3:4, Jeremiah 31:31-34)

1. I understand what it means to be co-crucified, co-resurrected and co-seated with Christ _____
2. I daily put off my old self, put on my new identity in Christ and live by faith in what God says is true about me _____
3. I experience my union of being identified with Christ in resisting sin and living in freedom and righteousness _____
4. I experience my authority of being in Christ by rebuking the demonic and “binding” and “loosening” in Jesus’ name _____
5. My self-image is continually being renewed by the truth of what God says about me rather than the lies of the world, the flesh and the devil _____
6. I understand that the Spirit who lives in me is the Spirit of resurrection and I experience the resurrection life of Jesus _____
7. I know and apply the truth that I have died to sin and have been made alive in Christ and have become a slave of righteousness_____
8. I understand what the Bible means by being “in Christ” and my spiritual growth is built upon my new spiritual identity ____
9. When I say that, “the truest thing about me is what God says is true”, I fully understand what God says about me ____
10. I am able to confidently rebuke the devil and claim Christ’s authority because of my understanding of my supernatural identity ____

Total _____

Mark 7–A growing disciple is connected to life-giving relationships in community (John 17:20-23, Acts 2:41-47, Ephesians 4:1-16, Psalm 133:1-3)

1. I am a member of a local Church and actively participate in worship services and Body life _____
2. I have godly friends that I share my life with in mutual encouragement and accountability _____
3. I speak words of encouragement and grace to build others up _____
4. I speak words of truth to set people free and point them to Jesus _____
5. I am a life-giver that brings joy, hope and freedom to others _____
6. I have people in my life who bring joy, hope and freedom to me _____
7. I consistently pray for my family and friends, interceding for their spiritual blessing _____
8. I have positive relationships with others and have a few close brothers and sisters who truly know my struggles and bear my burdens ____
9. I regularly receive encouragement and accountability from others that sharpens me to be a better person ____
10. My “grace and truth” tank is full because of the positive people in my life ____

Total _____

Mark 8–A growing disciple is a Kingdom-servant and proactively serves the Body of Christ (Matthew 25:31-40, Romans 12:4-8, 1 Peter 4:10-11, Isaiah 58:6-12)

1. I am actively involved in helping the least of these _____
2. I have discovered my spiritual gifts and intentionally use them to serve in the Church _____
3. I proactively seek to grow in my gifts and be the best steward of how I can serve others ____
4. I volunteer and look for opportunities to serve the Church _____
5. Because the Church is a Body and I am a part and member, I do everything I can to help the Body be healthy and growing _____
6. I actively pray for how God can use me to serve others and fulfill my ministry _____
7. I invest my time, talent and treasure in serving King Jesus and His Kingdom _____
8. I am a generous giver with my finances to the Church and to Kingdom causes ____
9. God has used me and is using me to serve and impact others for Christ _____
10. I have a clear sense of my gifts and talents and how I should be using them to grow Christ’s kingdom _____

Total _____

Mark 9–A growing disciple is contagious in their witness for Christ (Matthew 5:16, Matthew 28:18- 20, Acts 1:8, Psalm 96:2-3)

1. I shine the light of Jesus and show others God’s love by my life and example _____
2. I build positive relationships with non-Christians and witness to them by my life and my words _____
3. I am positive and excited to share my story of how Jesus has changed my life _____
4. I am committed to helping my friends and co-workers find salvation by praying for them and inviting them to Church _____
5. I understand the gospel message and can clearly communicate the plan of salvation to others _____
6. I regularly ask deeper life questions of people and engage them in spiritual conversations as a bridge to sharing the gospel _____
7. I often have people ask me about my faith and am able to give people answers to their spiritual questions and reasons for belief_____
8. I pray for divine appointments where I can share the gospel with others ____
9. I believe in the Great Commission and am seeking to be obedient to make disciples ____
10. God has used me to influence others to become followers of Jesus ____

Total ____

Mark 10–A growing disciple trusts God in all areas of their life and lives by faith, especially when facing trials and challenges (Proverbs 3:5-6; Hebrews 11:6; Mark 11:22-24: James 1:2-6; Galatians 3:1-8)

1. I increasingly trust God and live by faith in all areas of my life ____
2. When I pray I find it easy to believe that God is going to answer and give me what I ask for ____
3. I understand how God uses trials in my life and I am able to consider them with joy____
4. I have seen God do miracles in response to my prayers of faith ____
5. My faith is strengthened by a big view of God and confidence in His promises ____
6. My faith has been tested, proven and has grown throughout my journey with Christ ____
7. If God says it, I believe He will do it without any doubting ____
8. I am able to access specific promises, claim them by faith and apply them in my life ____
9. I no longer live by my feelings but instead trust in God’s character and promises ____
10. By faith I have seen God use trials in my life and make me more like Jesus _____

Evaluating your score

Mark 1 total _____

Mark 2 total _____

Mark 3 total _____

Mark 4 total _____

Mark 5 total _____

Mark 6 total _____

Mark 7 total _____

Mark 8 total _____

Mark 9 total _____

Mark 10 total _____

Cumulative total _____

Strongest Mark: Give number and description

 

 

Weakest Mark: Give number and description

 

 

 

What does this reveal about your spiritual life right now?

 

 

 

 

 

What actions steps do you need to take in dependence upon the Holy Spirit to be growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ?