S E S S I O N 0 1 Why Mentoring Matters

KEY CONCEPT: Mentoring leads to maturity in faith

CHALLENGE: Cultivate a humble and teachable spirit within yourself

Maturing Through Mentoring - The eternal and immeasurable value of investing in a mentoring relationship on your life

You may want to grow in your capacity for leadership, and you may have goals you set for yourself over periods of time, but Christian mentoring is about more than self-improvement or personal development. It’s about helping you increasingly live in the power of the Holy Spirit to become all God has created you to be.

God uses the mentoring relationship to strengthen the faith of everyone involved and to help both parties grow more into who He designed them to be. Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (NIV).

When mentoring becomes a regular part of your life, you are better equipped to put your faith into action – to live out and share your faith, teach others about Jesus, and use your gifts for the Kingdom.

Through mentoring you can expect to:

Identify and discuss specific areas of life to grow in Study the Bible together

Pray together

Help identify blind spots and opportunities for transformation in both parties’ spiritual lives

Find and celebrate evidence of becoming more conformed to the image of Christ

Address areas of ongoing struggle or ungodly thinking and behavior

Learn to mentor others

Mentoring is a biblical idea. Although the word "mentor" itself is never used in Scripture, we see numerous examples of mentoring relationships taking place throughout the Bible.

Jethro mentored Moses. Moses mentored Joshua and the elders of Israel. And Joshua mentored the other remaining leaders of his army.

Eli mentored Samuel. Samuel mentored Saul and David. Ahithophel and Nathan the prophet also mentored David. David became Israel's greatest king. David mentored his army commanders and government officials to establish the united nation of Israel. David also mentored Solomon. Solomon mentored the Queen of Sheba, who returned to her people with his wisdom in the form of Proverbs that applied God's laws.

Elijah mentored Elisha. Elisha mentored king Jehoash and others.

Daniel mentored Nebuchadnezzar, who humbled himself before God.

Mordecai mentored Esther. Esther mentored King Artaxerxes, which led to the liberation of God's people.

Priscilla and Aquila mentored Apollos, and this resulted in a much-improved ministry for Apollos.

And finally, Jesus mentored the twelve apostles who established the Christian church. The apostles mentored hundreds of other leaders, including Paul. Paul mentored Titus, Timothy, and many others. Timothy mentored many more who mentored others also, which led to a chain reaction that resulted in dozens of new churches in Asia. Ultimately, this specific mentoring chain is the beginning point of where we are today.