Life-Giving Fellowship Through Mentoring
by: Sisterhood YXE
After this last year and a half, some of us might feel nervous about readjusting; feeling awkward and socially clumsy after not being in the practice of living life with others for so long. Perhaps we’ve gotten used to having fewer social obligations in our schedule, and find ourselves comfortable to keep to ourselves.
But maybe there are many of us who feel our souls are hungry. They need to feed and be fed by the Spirit who’s working through those God has placed in our midst. Question is, how can we do this?
Whatever boat you find yourself in, our needs are the same: God has made us to love one another, and to do that not just in superficial socializing that merely fills our calendars. Not that there’s anything wrong with a fun and casual barbeque or two, or keeping within the safe walls of our small family circle; but this world is too heavy to be borne by ourselves, or even as a single-family unit. We need the strength, love, wisdom, insight, prayer and even the time and energy of the wider body of Christ to survive in this world, and especially to thrive as we seek to follow Christ.
There are many ways to foster communal fellowship in our lives, but as we know from pre-COVID days, if we’re not intentional about setting aside time and energy specifically for it, it’s far too easy to let our days, weeks and months pass by without realizing we haven’t genuinely connected with a believer in far too long.
One particular powerful and effective way to incorporate life-fostering fellowship in your life can be through mentoring.
Why mentoring?
It’s a great way to learn about ourselves and grow our gifts as we share it with the body of Christ. Here are some excellent reasons to consider it!
1. It’s biblical.
Throughout the Bible, we constantly see examples of mature believers taking younger ones under their wings. For example, Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Naomi and Ruth, Jesus and his disciples, Barnabas and Paul, Paul and Timothy, to name a few.
In Titus, Paul instructs older women to teach and train those that are younger, and in 1 Peter 5:1-3 we read: “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
2. It’s an acknowledgement of blessing and a reinvestment of the work God has done in us.
In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), each of the three servants are entrusted with gifts from their Master to take care of until He returns. We learn through the story that the ones who bring their Master the most delight are the ones that take the gift and invest it so the bounty multiplies.
It’s the same with us.
We all have experiences, insights, and blessings that God has used to grow us in wisdom and grace. To let them sit and grow stale is not what God intended, nor is it a fitting recognition and celebration of His grace in our lives. Rather, when reinvested in the lives of others, those gifts can grow and multiply many times over throughout the Kingdom as a whole.
3. It deepens our faith and develops our wisdom.
It’s been said that you don’t truly understand a subject until you teach it to someone else. That’s why being a mentee and being a mentor can be an incredible faith-building and learning experience!
Mentoring offers us the opportunity to lean on God in new ways. It forces us to articulate beliefs we may have taken for granted or may have been unaware that we held. It challenges assumptions and opens our eyes to new perspectives. It gives us a better understanding of the heart of our Teacher Father, our Leading Shepherd Father, and exercises our relational muscles to strengthen them in all areas of life.
4. We were made to live in relationship.
As we learn in Ephesians 4:9-12, we are all stronger when we’re together. No one can make it through this life alone—and even if we could, think about all we’d be missing out on!
God created us each in His image and made us to be His hands and feet. Therefore, it is through the words, actions, and caring of our brothers and sisters that we get the chance to see our Father “in the flesh”.
Through learning to love one another, we truly learn to love and to be loved by God. Our capacity to love one another grows and we learn to love better as God shows us how to love one another. The two processes are inseparable.
Whichever way you resume or change your fellowship as we emerge from our pandemic-induced hibernation, let’s all go into it with a new attitude of thankfulness and expectation for the growth ahead. We really need one another. Besides, we probably have a lot to catch up on.
The communal Triune God has given us one another as one of His greatest gifts. Let’s show our gratitude by leaning into that gift, however He leads us to, and by using it fully to His glory.
Sisterhood is a group of women based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Their vision is to empower women to spread Gospel hope, faith and love as they promote justice in the church, the community and the world. Together they have created the Rooted Mentorship Program, which seeks to intentionally connect women one-on-one for the purpose of seeking biblical truth together.
Find out more at: https://sisterhoodyxe.com/rooted
@sisterhoodyxe