Note: Numerous quotes are from another blog on the Flowers for the Pastor’s Wife website. The link to the full blog by Chelsea Hall will be provided at the end for you. Please read it for a more in-depth study on mentoring.
When my pastor and his young family first came to our church, God had prepared a very special encouragement for my pastor’s wife. As a young woman and a brand-new mother, my pastor’s wife met a very special older lady in the church. They shared many interests and the older became the mentor of the younger. Their relationship of love made this work.
“You may not think you need other women, but you do. Gender-based mentoring relationships are essential for your journey of sanctification. This is one of God’s rich provisions for growing in grace and maturity. In Titus 2, Paul describes a relational hierarchy that God designed to ‘teach [us] what is good.’”
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” Titus 2:3-5:
“It is not until the gospel grows deeper in believers that it will grow wider in the world. This simple principle of one-on-one discipleship can have a ripple effect that can affect a community and even future generations. The main avenue that God uses to help those roots grow deeper is through mentorship and discipleship. Many Christians have shallow roots because they were never discipled by anyone.”
Do you want to grow stronger in your faith this year? Have you considered asking someone older in the faith to mentor you? Do you want to sink your roots more deeply into God’s Word, understanding more of Him?
Then pray for God’s guidance and find a strong believer you can ask to meet with you on a regular basis to study God’s Word, to discuss your joys and struggles, and to pray together. If you are asked to be a mentor, prayerfully consider how God can use you in this individual’s life. Remember 2 Corinthians 12:9, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” God can use you!
“Each of us is a younger and older woman to someone. At every point in our lives, we can reach “forward” to learn from the wisdom of “older” more mature believers. At the same time, we always have younger believers that we can reach “backwards” (in the spectrum) to bring less mature believers along the journey.”
Grow deeper this year in the Truth of God’s Word. Help others grow deeper as well. Make a difference in your church, your community, and generations to come!
You can check out Chelsea’s Article, “Mentoring and Discipling – A Titus 2 Model” here.
