Sunday, March 10, 2013

Mentoring


Mentoring

I recently went to a workshop on Christian mentoring. There was so much good information, and thought maybe some of you may be interested in it.

Jesus didn’t mentor everyone. He picked three to be closest to. He of course was close to all 12, but picked three for the closest mentoring relationship.

When you are mentoring remember this:

M-modeling

E- encouraging

N- nurturing
T- transparency
O- opportunities
R- relationship

M- Modeling is the most powerful form of learning. What you do impacts people more than what you say.

E-encouraging, find things that you appreciate about the person you are mentoring, and tell them.

N-nurturing Look inside them for the person they long to be. Ask lots of questions to figure this out. Jesus used 288 questions. Questions are good. Ask lots of questions. One might be: What would you like your life to look like 10 years from now? Recognize that there are no two people alike.  What worked in a past mentoring relationship may not work in the current one. Be a good listener. More listening and asking questions than speaking.

T- Transparency, tell them up front that you do not have all the answers. Give what you have to give. Be who God has made you to be. Be approachable and available. Be loyal. Be open. Be more willing to be John the Baptist and point them to Jesus, and less willing to be their Jesus.

O-Opportunities, look around and quit making excuses as to why you can’t mentor someone. If you had a bad experience in the past it doesn’t mean you can’t still mentor. Jesus had two who betrayed him, but that wasn’t the mentor’s fault. He never said to any of the 12, “I’ve had it with you.”
Also just because you yourself have had failures doesn’t mean you can’t give to someone else. Focus on what you learned through the trial you went through and share it.

R-relationship, this means the person you are mentoring is in a relationship with you. They are NOT your project, the minute you start thinking that you are no longer a mentor you have made your mentor your idol. This is God’s work. God’s plan. God’s hand. Also remember to start where the person is, not where you want them to be.

Where do I begin? What questions do I start with?
  1. Goals: Where do you want to be in your walk with the Lord?
  2. Reality: where do you see yourself now?
  3. Options: How can you get there? Help them make a list of options.
  4. Walk: Let’s look at our list and do at least one today.

2 comments:

  1. Love this, Denise! Thank you for sharing.

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  2. Thanks Rhonda! I had no idea you were reading my "stuff"
    I loved this workshop and the one on prayer. I will try to write up some notes on that one and post it as well. I love to learn new ways to serve our Lord!

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