FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT MENTORING
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
When it comes right down to it I believe that Mentoring someone is the most difficult, slowest, and most expensive ways of witnessing to another person, but at the same time, it becomes the most complete, and honest way we can have of sharing the Gospel of Christ in our lives.
Mentoring in the truest fashion is the very best way for us to continue to grow in our faith in Christ as well because as we mentor someone it means that we must also live out that Gospel every day of our lives. Many people who have tried mentoring another have found the need to increase their personal prayer time as well, which is directly linked to our spiritual growth. I think one of the greatest lessons for me in mentoring has been the fact that I cannot teach or mentor someone in something that I have never experienced or do not know about. We simply cannot give something that we do not have ourselves. That means that although we may agree with something that someone writes in a book or that we feel is true we must have experienced personally before we can use that as a tool effectively.
One of the greatest ways of instruction is to have a hands-on relationship with the thing you are trying to learn. We may have a heart or passion for something, but we cannot teach those who need the most help, and who are dealing with that issue unless we can understand what they are going through. Some of the best teachers are those who have come from very bad situations in life because they understand the spiritual situations of those who are presently caught in it. It is like dealing with being addicted to something without ever having dealt with addiction personally. While it is not impossible to do it is still very hard to relate to both the one mentoring, and the person who is being mentored. There is a trust issue to break through there with people before they will listen to the truth, and for those people, they must know that the mentor understands them, and the journey they are on.
In all of these cases trust becomes a real issue for many. They need to feel the realness of the one they listen to; they need to be able to connect emotionally with a life story and an understanding that this mentor has endured like problems. In almost all cases today people are no longer going to take our word when we say that God loves them, or He is good. In the same manner that people will not be convinced to give their lives to Christ by simply attending a church service every week. It takes a commitment to show someone that what you are saying is real to your life. I believe that is, in general, the main change we need to make within the church itself today because people need to experience what is real about God in a daily life.
It is my prayer that we will begin to think much more about the ministry that we each have toward mentoring someone else. God has placed people in our lives already who are drawn to us and who cherish our advice so we need to dig in and start to grow where we are planted. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
When it comes right down to it I believe that Mentoring someone is the most difficult, slowest, and most expensive ways of witnessing to another person, but at the same time, it becomes the most complete, and honest way we can have of sharing the Gospel of Christ in our lives.
Mentoring in the truest fashion is the very best way for us to continue to grow in our faith in Christ as well because as we mentor someone it means that we must also live out that Gospel every day of our lives. Many people who have tried mentoring another have found the need to increase their personal prayer time as well, which is directly linked to our spiritual growth. I think one of the greatest lessons for me in mentoring has been the fact that I cannot teach or mentor someone in something that I have never experienced or do not know about. We simply cannot give something that we do not have ourselves. That means that although we may agree with something that someone writes in a book or that we feel is true we must have experienced personally before we can use that as a tool effectively.
One of the greatest ways of instruction is to have a hands-on relationship with the thing you are trying to learn. We may have a heart or passion for something, but we cannot teach those who need the most help, and who are dealing with that issue unless we can understand what they are going through. Some of the best teachers are those who have come from very bad situations in life because they understand the spiritual situations of those who are presently caught in it. It is like dealing with being addicted to something without ever having dealt with addiction personally. While it is not impossible to do it is still very hard to relate to both the one mentoring, and the person who is being mentored. There is a trust issue to break through there with people before they will listen to the truth, and for those people, they must know that the mentor understands them, and the journey they are on.
In all of these cases trust becomes a real issue for many. They need to feel the realness of the one they listen to; they need to be able to connect emotionally with a life story and an understanding that this mentor has endured like problems. In almost all cases today people are no longer going to take our word when we say that God loves them, or He is good. In the same manner that people will not be convinced to give their lives to Christ by simply attending a church service every week. It takes a commitment to show someone that what you are saying is real to your life. I believe that is, in general, the main change we need to make within the church itself today because people need to experience what is real about God in a daily life.It is my prayer that we will begin to think much more about the ministry that we each have toward mentoring someone else. God has placed people in our lives already who are drawn to us and who cherish our advice so we need to dig in and start to grow where we are planted. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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