In the culture in which I work, one hears about mentoring quite a bit. It is assumed that everyone could benefit from having a mentor, and I certainly agree. It is also assumed that every leader could or should be a mentor, and I’m just not sure about that.
In the Christian context, mentoring requires large doses of patience and humility, the ability to see the potential in someone and build them up, a willingness to live transparently and authentically. Helpful mentoring takes massive doses of intercession. If one truly wants to be a mentor to someone, they must like being with the person they wish to mentor and be willing to give their best lessons and understanding away for the joy of helping someone else along their journey. Mentoring takes heart, prayer, and time. Not every person in a leadership position is healthy enough to do it well.
Likewise, not every person is ready to be mentored.
To be mentored takes large doses of patience and humility, the ability to see something worth learning in another person’s life, and a willingness to live transparently and authentically with them. A mentee should enjoy being around their mentor. My best mentor, Denise, says that a person who wants a mentor should look for someone going in the same direction, at a similar pace, and should seek to be a friend, first. I think that is great advice.
Look for a spiritual mentor who won’t try to “fix” you but who is able take your hands and put them in the hands of the Holy Spirit. As author, Brian Simons states, “good mentors teach us how to hear the Holy Spirit for ourselves because the Holy Spirit will take us further than any man can”. When you look for a mentor, remind yourself of this simple verse found in in Philippians 3.17 “Keep track of those you see running the same course, headed for the same goal” (the message translation).
If you want a good mentor, pay attention to those around you and gravitate toward those who are walking in the same direction as you know you need to go, maybe only a step or two ahead. Look for the ones who see your potential and will help you go a little farther by their gift of themselves. Look for those who encourage you by their walk in God. Talk to God about your desire for a mentor, ask Him to help you find people who will invest in you and trust that He will bring them your way. He will. He did and still does for me.
Your Father knows what you need before you even ask Him, so start your search for great mentors with Him. He loves to give you what you need to grow up in Him.
—George Davis (one who has the privilege of good mentors)
