May 2017 - Mentoring Relationships
Dear Friends,
A heart for God, experience in life, a love for women. If you have these characteristics, you can mentor another woman. You can be mentored by another woman. Yet some of us may think it takes too much to invest in a mentoring relationship. But what does it really take?
Be available: We don’t need to wait until we have it all together or have all the answers to be in a mentoring relationship. God is looking for women who are available to be the hands and feet of Jesus serving other women. If you have a love for God, if you have had experience with waiting, making decisions, being disciplined, praying and living a life dependent on God, you can be a mentor. If you have questions about living the Christian life you can be mentored.
Be honest and authentic: Jesus lived his life in front of the disciples. He was real and honest. If we are going to grow in a mentoring relationship, we must be honest and authentic. We must be willing to say, “I don’t know, but I will find the answer.” We must be open about our struggles, joys, hardships, challenges, expectations and beliefs. A woman who is afraid to share her life with someone else does not create a safe place where other women can be open about their personal struggles.
Be humble: We are all still growing in our faith. Not one of us has arrived at perfection, or that person would be in heaven. There is only one who is perfect, and his name is Jesus. We are called to be witnesses of all the goodness we have in our hearts – not because of anything we have done but only because of his sacrifice on the cross. It’s a gift we don’t deserve but receive because of his great love.
Be intentional: Set out every day to be a good listener in your mentoring relationships. As a mentor, we are to listen more than talk. We are to ask questions more than we tell others what to do. I believe the best mentors are those who ask good questions and allow the mentees to discover biblical truths for themselves.
Point her to Jesus: From my first relationship as a mentee of Dr. Marianne May to a relationship I have today with my spiritual mother, Dottie, my mentors have always pointed me to Jesus and the Bible for answers. Mentoring is not just about what it means to be a wife or mother. A mentoring relationship builds trust, provides a safe place to share some very dark and disturbing emotions, and allows each person to work through issues with the love and care of Jesus. God wants us to unite our hearts with one another and with Jesus.
Today, allow your hearts to be touched by other women. Let us come together in prayer as we lift our voices for women in the dark places of our world who feel alone and desperate. May our sisters find other women who will be the hands and feet of Jesus as mentors and friends.
In Him our hearts rejoice,