Praize Blogs

A new sister in our church fellowship asked me that question. “Are you my mentor?” She and I had spent one evening a week together since October or November. I was teaching her Exploring God’s Word and then My Father’s House discipleship course. Often, our teacher/student time together turned into a time of sharing, question and answer, prayer for specific requests and so on.

Our Bible study ended a couple of weeks ago. I really missed being with her except for when we gather to fellowship at church. Then today, when she asked if I was her mentor, I answered her question this way:

What you need right now is not necessarily a mentor. What you need is a fellowship of mature/maturing women who can speak into your life at any given time. I’d seen her develop relationships with other women in the church, some are her relatives, some are a little older than her and single, some are preachers’ wives and so on. That is a good thing, because all of these women have a responsibility to lead young women in the faith in the right way.

I went on to explain that mentoring is something that is done in preparation for ministry. At least that’s what I believe. Once my young sister finds what she wants to do in the body of Christ, then she should gravitate toward people who are doing that so they she can apprentice and shadow them while relying on the leading of the Holy Ghost at the same time. Paul called Timothy his son in the faith in I Timothy 1:2. Throughout the books of First and Second Timothy, Paul was instructing Timothy on how to shepherd God’s flock. I believe the punch line comes in 2 Timothy 4:5 where Paul writes: “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” Mind you, all four points are things that Paul himself had done. This shows that a mentor should lead in the paths they themselves have walked and encourage the follower to go beyond what they have done. 

My prayer for my young sister in the faith is that she continues to enjoy her relationship with the Lord and that we all continue to grow and be effective in ministry.