2/4 - Mentoring for Kingdom Purposes: Four Key Components By Bill Niconson & Josimar Salum
1 - Obedience
One of the keys to being a good mentor is that it is usually something you don’t seek. It seeks you.
Why? Because a true mentor is humble and understands their position before God. They see themselves as fortunate, blessed and loved by God and humbled just to be serving Him
“The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself." Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people.” (Acts 10:24-27).
One of the greatest blessings that can be bestowed on a Christ follower is that they be asked to be a mentor to someone.
Before someone can actually be a mentor they have to have a Christ experience. You have to know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. Jesus can never do anything through you unless He has done something in you. You can not lead someone in Christ if you were not led. You can not lead someone if you are not following Jesus as His disciple.
It’s impossible to be a mentor unless you learn to be a follower.
Obedience in following the Lord is a dominant characteristic in a Christ’s follower.
”The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.” (II Corinthians 10:4-6)
“Only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes.” (Dietrich Bonheoffer)
It is a very dangerous thing to put people into a relationship with another person who has never demonstrated humility and obedience in following Jesus.
A “servant like” heart is needed in order for a mentor to be effective.
This person thinks about the other people that God places in his/her heart.
They move from being self-centered to becoming “other-centered”.
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:24-25)
2 - Discipline
A mentor must have the personal discipline to live a balanced life. Now it’s not to say that I mean we are “perfect” or we live like a “perfect”.
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12-14 NIV)
But there needs to be evidence in the mentor’s life that there is always improvement! Our lives should always be moving forward to the life that Jesus has called us to.
A disciplined life means that we fit our lives naturally into God’s will all the time, honestly knowing this will be done as much as possible. However we will not let anything interfere or remove us from following God because if we do it means that we are out of balance.
"Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything” (I Cor. 6:12 NIV).
3 - Character
A mentor will be a person of character. This means that he or she will have exhibited to others the fruits of the Spirit and a mind that is focused on Christ.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23 NIV).
This person will be thought of as a holy person or spiritual person and is respected by their peers (Acts 6).
Character is the person you are when no one is looking. A person of character blesses God, themselves and others. They aren’t selfish.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than your selves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:3-4)
Paul goes on to say how we, all saints of God, and in our case who are mentors should live.
“Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not mean and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8.)
This is exemplary of the person who has great character. A mentor most likely has a mentor as well. This is a person who is completely self-aware.
4 - Self-awareness
Because of our sinful nature is still part of our being how wicked our hearts can be! Being self-aware is acknowledging that we need help in our own lives because of our sinfulness.
You can think that your life is good and that everything is ok. That is not only the case. We can and do deceive ourselves. This is why mentoring is important, to have someone to speak into our lives, someone we can be accountable for through a relationship free of any controlling, manipulation and oppression.
To be continued...
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