Knowing What to Mentor

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All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ~ II Timothy 3:16, 17

READING: II Timothy 3:10-17

It is apparent in this passage that Paul had known Timothy for a long time and had mentored him from a young age. Timothy had developed a “track record” before Paul.

You can never really know “who” a potential leader really is until the circumstances and pressures of life assail him. Then we see things that need to be changed.

Though we are only agents of change, we must do our part from within a close relationship to that person.

As we read between the lines, it is clear that Paul mentored Timothy across a broad range of skills and topics, giving him generous doses of both more formal instruction in Scripture and practical experience gained as he traveled with Paul.

We observe in Paul also a tender spirit of encouragement to speak to what might have been Timothy’s personal susceptibility to timidity.

On the one hand, Paul exhorts Timothy, saying bracingly: “God did not give us a spirit of timidity…” (II Tim. 1:7).

But, on the other hand, Paul also gives kindly practical advice: “Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (I Tim. 5:23).

Have you developed a relationship with someone in your team or church for whom you are willing to sacrifice your comforts, time, energies and finances to see them grow spiritually?

What kind of a legacy will you leave behind you when you move on to another church plant?

Father, Show me who you would have me mentor. Help me to be willing to sacrifice my comforts, time and finances to see someone else succeed. Amen.

Ron Thiesen