May 2009 - Mentoring by Kathy Johns

“Ashley, do you want to go upstairs with me? I’ll hold your hand and help you. Hold on to the rail and be careful. Don’t go too fast. Good job, Ashley.”

These are the words I heard while babysitting Emily, my soon to be 5 year old granddaughter, and her 2 year old sister, Ashley. Ashley has an amazing vocabulary for a 2 year old. She has been speaking in 3 and 4 word sentences for a few months now (yes, I am a bit prejudiced and very proud!). Of course she has the advantage of a big sister who talks to her all of the time (not always as nicely as in the above example).

It occurred to me the other day after I had been meditating on Titus 2:3-5, that Ashley is being mentored by her big sister. Emily has been trained in “stair climbing” by her mother and grandmothers. She has fallen and successfully climbed many times herself and has the life experiences necessary to coach her little sister. And most of the time Ashley is eager to listen and learn from Emily. Sometimes the learning comes from step by step training, as in the “stair climbing” example. Other times, it comes through observation and imitation as in her speaking skills. I have often observed Ashley following her big sister and imitating her every move, as well as the words she says. Now Emily has not mastered everything and has some learning and growing to do herself. But she is passing on what she knows.

So it is with mentoring. In Titus 2:3-5 Paul tells Titus to “teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

The “older women” are to be good examples in the way they live, and they have some maturity and life experiences to draw from. These women are then asked to train the younger women. It seems to me that the “younger women” are to learn both from the example and training provided by the “older women”.

I like the way the Message says it in Titus. “Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives.

As I think back over my life, I recognize that I have learned much from the “older women” I have known. Some of them have taught me from their example alone as I have observed their lives. Others have taught me through their teaching alone (messages, workshops, conferences) and then there are those special women who have taught me through both their example and intentional training, as I have had the privilege of walking closely with them for a period of time. In those situations, there was a mutual commitment to each other to meet regularly for the purpose of sharing our lives.

Jesus modeled this with His disciples. He called them to walk with Him and learn from Him during His three years of ministry here on earth. As they shared their lives, they had the opportunity to observe Him and to be trained by Him.

For Ashley, being mentored by Emily, has resulted in growth and maturity that is advanced for her age. That is what mentoring does. It gives us an advantage and allows us to move ahead farther and faster than we would without it. It gives us the perspective of another and often saves us from making costly and painful mistakes as we learn from the experiences of another. It also equips us so that we can better serve God and go on to mentor others. Ashley will be fully equipped to mentor Kaylie (her 8 month old little sister) when she becomes mobile.

In I Corinthians 11:1, Paul says “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.” I am challenged to be a follower of Christ so that I can be an example worth imitating. And I am committed to mentoring both by learning from the “older women” in my life and by imparting whatever training I can to those “younger women” that God brings along.

Do you have an “Emily” in your life, to guide you and help you in your spiritual development, as well as your growth as a woman, a wife or a mother? Do you have an “Ashley” in your life, to guide and share what God has taught you though your life experiences? You can begin today by asking God to bring these women into your life in His perfect timing. Then wait expectantly and see what God will do, as you make yourself available for His training and use.

Before you know it, you will be “climbing stairs” and showing others how to do it too!

Warmly In Him,

Sam & Kathy Johns