My name is Irvin and I am a firm believer and follower of Christ.

For the last year, I and my friend have

been leading of group of people in bible studies. Now you might be wondering what connection does
bible study has to do with leadership. Bible study has everything to do with leadership. As the group
leaders we do not just teach the bible, but it is to take responsibility of another person’s life and to
lead them to become like Christ. In order to be able to lead someone else, we must be able to lead
ourselves first.

Bible study is just a small part of a big picture of discipleship. Discipleship is teaching others about the
bible and to lead them to Christ by example. Leading a discipleship group means to be prepared for
unexpected problems of my underclassmen. It also means to be more considerate to what they may
need to resolve their problems. Leading a group also means to be strict. Even though I don’t directly
chasten my underclassmen when they make a mistake, I always make sure that when they are wrong
they deserve get one. After all, the goal of discipleship is to become a person who resembles Christ

Becoming a person who resembles Christ is not as easy as imitating what He did around 2000 years
ago. It needs time, it needs patience, and most of all is the willingness to accept criticism when we
don’t resemble Him. When we are criticized, we are exposed as the person we are. Either we accept
criticism or deny it. To resemble Christ means leading ourselves to be humble and accept criticism so
that criticism actually develops us, not break us.

Leading ourselves to become like Christ is very hard. Other people tend to look at the Christian
community as impactful people. They expect us to always excel at everything we do and that is what
I pressure myself to do. Being excellent in studies, organization, even discipleship presents time
management problems. I challenge myself to always stick to a schedule and be on time for meetings
very little time is wasted.

After a year leading the group, I have seen significant changes in the group. One of my underclassmen
had a serious “tongue” problem. When I met him he really like to rant, now he gives a lot of praise to
others. Another wants to be the chairman of the ITB Christmas committee. However I have also seen
subtle changes in my group. Most of them are more caring about other people’s needs and are now
leading their underclassmen in their own bible study group.