Christ’s Twelve Calls of Discipleship
From Him, through me — engaged head, heart, & hands.
The Creed
I receive Christ’s call not as passive suggestion
but as the ultimate invitation, divine direction, and the abundant way of life.
I follow not in part but striving with my whole unified mind, soul, and body;
my Creator-given head, heart, and hands—
fully offered to Jesus Christ; my Lord, Savior, and Friend.
Therefore, by God’s gracen and the power of the Holy Spirit,
I commit myself to these Twelve Calls:
The Twelve Calls of Christ
- Love — I am loving God and others with the whole presence of my unique person
- Believe — I am believing Christ with a mindful trust, anchoring my heart in truth
- Seek — I am seeking first and setting my mind on God’s Kingdom foremost
- Follow — I am following Jesus with thoughtful steps along His holy path
- Receive — I am receiving God’s power inclining and infusing my heart and body by the Holy Spirit
- Abide — I am abiding upward, relaxed, and receptive to the Yes (URY key) of God’s presence
- Grow — I am growing as I bear healthy fruit through transformed character and conduct
- Serve — I am serving by offering my hands in service for the good of others
- Deny — I am denying and hereby surrender my old fleshly self while submitting and celebrating my new Christ-centered, Spirit-led self
- Obey — I am obeying by practicing Christ’s precepts with proper posture and purpose
- Make — I am making disciples by participating with God in this partnership.
- Endure — I am enduring through prayer, persevering with a steadfast body, anchored heart, and faithful mind, longing to hear my Lord say, “Well done.”
Closing Affirming Prayer
I am not enough by my old self,
but I know the great I AM.
Therefore, I am sufficient
by God’s power and grace.
🙏 Amen 🙏
Expanded version:
1. Love
Love is the foundational call of discipleship. Jesus defines love not as emotion or preference, but as total devotion to God and self-giving action toward others. This love becomes the visible mark of those who truly belong to Him.
Matthew 22:37–39 (BSB) Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
John 13:34–35 “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”
John 14:21 “Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
John 16:27 “For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.”
2. Believe
To believe is to entrust oneself fully to Jesus. Christ consistently calls people not merely to accept ideas about Him, but to place confident, obedient trust in Him as the Son of God and source of eternal life. True belief results in inner transformation and outward overflow.
John 6:29 (BSB)
“Jesus replied, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.’”
John 3:16 (BSB)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
John 7:38 (BSB)
“Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’”
John 11:25–26 (BSB)
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.’”
3. Seek
Jesus calls His disciples to an intentional pursuit—placing God’s Kingdom above all other desires. Seeking is an active orientation of the heart and mind toward God’s reign, righteousness, and will.
Matthew 6:33 (BSB)
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.”
Luke 11:9 (BSB)
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
Psalm 105:4
“Seek out the LORD and His strength; seek His face always.”
4. Follow
Following Jesus is a decisive and ongoing response. It requires leaving old allegiances, embracing Christ’s way, and walking daily in obedience—even when the cost is high.
Matthew 10:38-39 and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Luke 9:23 “Then Jesus said to all of them, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’”
John 12:26 “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be as well.”
5. Receive
Jesus calls His followers not to self-reliance, but to receive—welcoming God’s life, power, and Spirit. Discipleship begins and continues by receiving what only God can give.
John 1:12 “But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”
John 20:22 “When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
6. Abide
To abide is to remain—living in continual dependence upon and connection with Christ. Jesus presents abiding as the essential condition for fruitfulness, spiritual vitality, and lasting transformation.
John 15:7 “If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you wish, and to you it will come to pass.”
John 15:9–10 “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love…”
7. Grow
Growth is the natural result of being in Christ. Jesus calls His disciples to bear visible fruit—lives increasingly shaped by God’s character, purposes, and righteousness.
John 15:8 “This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.”
Mark 4:8 “And others fell into the good soil and began yielding fruit, growing up and increasing, and one bearing thirtyfold, and one sixty, and one a hundred.”
1 Cor 3:7 “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.”
Like 12:27 “Consider how the lilies grow: They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory was adorned like one of these.”
8. Serve
Jesus defines greatness through service. To serve is to imitate Christ—offering one’s life, strength, and gifts for the good of others and the glory of God.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
Joshua 24:15 “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!”
John 13:14–15 “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done for you.”
John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.
9. Deny
Self-denial is not loss, but liberation. Jesus calls His disciples to surrender false identities and self-rule in order to gain true life in Him.
Luke 9:23–24 “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.”
John 12:25 “Whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
10. Obey
Obedience is love made visible. Jesus consistently links obedience with intimacy, joy, and faithfulness—not as legalism, but as loving response.
Acts 5:29 “”We must obey God rather than human beings!”
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
John 15:14 “You are My friends if you do what I command you.”
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”
Jerememiah 42:6 Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the LORD our God
11. Make
Jesus calls His followers into God’s redemptive mission. Making disciples is the natural overflow of a life shaped by Christ—multiplying faith through teaching, modeling, and relational investment.
Matthew 28:19–20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
John 20:21 “As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.”
12. Endure
Endurance is faithfulness over time. Jesus prepares His disciples for hardship, calling them to persevere with hope, trust, and expectation of eternal reward.
Matthew 24:13 “But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.”
John 16:33 “In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
Revelation 2:10b “Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Here is a PDF you can download. I hope you will take these 12 calls to heart as its what needed to fulfill Christ’s call into our lives.
