Everyone Needs a Mentor

 

¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

—The words of Jesus from John 13:15

 

¹ Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

—The words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 11:1

 

Do you know that every one needs a mentor? Now that word “mentor” is a word that at lot of people throw around quite casually in conversation these days. “Mentor” really means “a teacher who teaches by example.”

We learn lots of things by watching how other people do things. Have you ever watched “Mister Rogers” or “Sesame Street” or one of the other children’s programs when one of the characters shows how to do something? Then later, you (or your children) tried to do it? Sure you have. You learned because you saw someone else do something and you were able to do what they showed you until you could do that “something,” too.

Think about how you learned to pray. Maybe the first time mom or dad prayed with you, you were a very little boy or girl. I imagine that mom or dad said something like, “Now bow your head and close your eyes and we’re going to pray.” Then mom or dad would bow his or her head and close his or her eyes and pray a prayer with you.

Every time mom or dad prayed with you, he or she would say, “Now bow your head and close your eyes and we’re going to pray.” Pretty soon, you knew that when it was time to pray it was also time to bow your head and close your eyes. You learned how to pray by following what mom and dad showed you.

Or, maybe, you didn’t grow up in a praying household and the first time you prayed was as a teenager or an adult. Even then, didn’t you learn how to pray by listening to someone else, or maybe many others, pray? Sure you did.

The lesson for today is that God wants us to be teachers to all of our friends and all of the other people we see each day. He wants us to show them the right way to do things. God wants us to live our lives in such a way that we can be good teachers, good mentors to others.

You can learn how to mentor others by always choosing what you know is the right thing to do. We sometimes try to kid ourselves into believing that we have many choices in every situation. The truth is that we really do know, within the depth of our being, what is the right thing to do in each circumstance. That nudging within you is the Holy Spirit.

God sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within everyone who acknowledges that the Lord Jesus Christ is his or her Savior. The Holy Spirit helps keep us on the pathway that God has laid out before us. The Holy Spirit helps us choose to do the right thing whenever we must make a choice.

So, you can learn how to be a good and effective mentor by listening carefully for that nudge from the Holy Spirit. Choose to do the right thing in every case and you’ll become a good mentor.

Will you pray with me?

Thank You, God, for loving me. Thank You for letting me show you my love for You by living my life as an example for others. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

_{Copyright © 2011 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}