Mentorship

#bible #scripture #christianity #discipleship #mentorship #spiritualgrowth #God #Jesus #HolySpirit #Spirituality #personalgrowth #wisdom #recovery

It's funny how counterintuitive it is to most of us when we are recovering from an injury, and our physical therapist or trainer implores us to work the very muscle that is racked with indescribable pain!

Not only does it seem illogical to try and use a muscle that fails us with soreness, excessive tightness, and extremely limited mobility on a daily basis, but it almost seems like cruel and unusual punishment when our guide admonishes us to implement the use of resistance bands and even free weights on top of it all!

"Clearly they have never gone through this!," we shout to ourselves inwardly.

While this is a pretty normal and standard response from just about any human being who finds themselves in this particular circumstance or condition, it is still ultimately one that fails to be truly objective and see the "big picture" of the situation.

Here we need to summon all of the courage and will that we are able to, to continuously remind ourselves why we have solicited the help of this professional therapist or trainer in the first place.

They have training, and experience that we simply do not have, and they also possess something else of extreme value that we do not have concerning this situation in which we find ourselves - perspective.

As the old saying goes, "it's pretty tough to see the picture when you're the one inside the frame!"

They are indeed, "outside of the frame," of our subjective experience in this instance, and can therefore provide the wise, calm, and sane counsel, and perhaps even a well timed push that we need, regarding the direction of treatment that we need to wholeheartedly pursue that gives us the best chance at an effective rehabilitation, and a full and regenerative recovery.

Why then do we balk at something, which on paper, seems so simple?

Romans chapter 7 seems to give us the best answer, and explanation concerning this matter:

"21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature[d] a slave to the law of sin."

The clear fact of the matter is that we all are, regardless of how spiritually mature we are or are not at each stage of our respective spiritual growth, affected and influenced by our human thoughts and emotions, and the residual effects of our fallen and fleshly natures, even despite the fact that we are Christians and now find ourselves in possession of a new nature.

The "old man," (or old woman,) as the Bible puts it, still finds itself in contention with the "new man," (or new woman,) on at least somewhat of a regular basis.

As we continue to seek God with our whole hearts and beings in prayer, mediation, and the thorough and consistent study of His Word, we do in fact find that He continuously fills us afresh with a greater and greater outpouring of His Holy Spirit, which does indeed continue to wash us, change us, and sanctify us, supernaturally, and by being "transformed by the renewing of our minds." (Romans 12:2) That is a big part of the fruit of our hope! For the Bible wouldn't say, that God takes us from "Faith to faith, and from glory to glory," (2 Corinthians 3:18,) if it weren't rue.

However, it would behoove us to remember that we are BEING sanctified, and are not FINISHED with the process yet, by any means, as scripture warns us to "Be careful not to think more of yourselves than you ought to, but rather think of yourselves with sober judgement." (Romans 12:3)

This expanded edition of the Message translation of 1 Corinthians 10:12 also gives us a poignant and clear warning of the dangers of pride, and self-delusion when it comes to a complete lack of spiritual self-awareness,

MSG

"These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don’t repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don’t be so naive and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence."

Yes, it is an axiom, and a universal truth when it comes to us fallen human beings, that we are unfortunately prone to blind spots when it comes to an accurate appraisal of our actual spiritual condition, as Ephesians 4:17-18 declares,

"This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart"

While the above passage refers to the blindness of those who DON'T yet believe in Jesus Christ, the next passage, taken from 2 Peter 1: 5-9 clearly refers to those who DO believe in Christ Jesus, yet are lacking in awareness and maturity, which can be literally any one of us if we are not careful,

"5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins."

A chiding warning indeed, but one only spoken in to us in love, and for our benefit!

The Bible is filled with many other passages that explicitly refer to, and explain our tendency to battle against spiritual blindness in varying degrees. In the interest of time, we need only refer to the above passages which in and of only themselves are more than sufficient to smash this point home.

We are sheep, and sheep are prone to be simple minded, caught up and absorbed in the immediate needs of eating, drinking, sleeping, and their desire for comfort and safety. These are legitimate needs to be sure, but when we allow them to take center stage and dominate our lives, we, like sheep, are prone to wander. We need to harken unto the voice of our Shepherd, Jesus Christ, the living Word, who speaks to us through the confirmation and conviction of The Holy Spirit, through the well-articulated warnings of scripture, but also through the trusted vessels of mentors who are given as gifts by God to disciple us.

2 Timothy 3:16 helps us see this as we pay attention to this text,

16 "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

As you can clearly see, and as The Lord spoke through Paul the apostle in this passage, it was always God's intent to ordain and commission those before each one of us to share with us the proper application of the word, and to "teach" us, "rebuke" us when necessary, "correct" us, and "train us in righteousness."

We are, at least at times throughout our Christian walk, likely to balk at this reality, but perhaps a simple look at Hebrews 12:11 can help us to see the benefits to surrendering to this ordained structure and order in God's Kingdom.

11 "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

There you have it - if a harvest of peace and righteousness is something you're interested in, then make a decision to surrender to discipline, correction and rebuke when necessary, and those are the results you'll get!

This sacred trust that is bestowed upon spiritual mentors, whether it is us who are doing the mentoring, or those mentoring us, should of course never be abused, or used for selfish or exploitative purposes, and should always be treated with the reverent appreciation that this ordained position requires.

It is also interesting to note that we don't seem to have much of a problem with secular examples of such mentorship. When for instance, the head coach of our favorite football team is seen correcting one of his players on the sidelines for an error that could have cost his team the game, we nod our heads with approval, knowing that while we may feel bad for the young player who committed this mistake on a big stage, it is only for his good that he is being "coached up" in this way, it and will help him continue to improve, and ultimately enable him to help his teammates as well.

Now, if that aforementioned coach yells incessantly at this player in an uncontrolled tirade of unbridled rage and verbal abuse, then that is of course, completely unacceptable!

But if that coach NEVER addressed the issue and just simply let his player walk over to the bench with head down, only to slam his helmet against the Gatorade cooler, well that would be irresponsible as well.

The correct approach, most of us would conclude, would be to gently grab the player on his way over to his self-imposed social exile, away from the rest of his teammates, to stop him, raise his head to eye level and give him some gentle yet firmly important reminders. "Make sure to tuck the ball in securely against your forearm while running against an opposing defense, or the likelihood of you fumbling will significantly increase." Then to say "It's alright, keep your head in the game and do better next time!," and pat him on the helmet to let him know that he is still loved, and still very much a part of the team.

Why then can we easily see the obvious need for this type of loving and necessary correction, yet in the very next breath we hypocritically balk at the necessity for it in our own lives? And how much moreso do WE need it when it comes to spiritual things, and in our respective walks with God?

We wouldn't be implored to "Fight the good fight of faith," (1 Timothy 6:12,) if there was in fact nothing to fight against, and most often, (the war that we are commissioned to fight against the devil and the world notwithstanding,) it is against our own flesh.

Let us now then, as scripture admonishes us, summon the power of The Holy Spirit at our disposal, and continuously make the decision each today to practice these spiritual disciplines that are laid out here before us, and "choose this day whom we serve." (Joshua 24:15)

If we learn to do this on a consistent basis, we will find that the side of ourselves that we choose to say yes to and feed, will be the one that grows and becomes the strongest.

If our new nature is the one that grows stronger, we will grow happier as a natural result, as the Bible tells us in Colossians 2:7,

"Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness."

It is, without a doubt, my personal experience, that when I made the consistent choice to, and have taken the corresponding actions associated with, "Letting my roots grow down into Him . . . ," I indeed began to "overflow with thankfulness." And, despite the many trials that I have faced in and throughout the various seasons of my walk with God, this "thankfulness" has served as "the joy of the Lord" that has indeed been my strength! (Nehemiah 8:10)

The supernatural power of this strength has allowed me to grow to the point where I am empowered more and more to keep a positive perspective in God, maintain a joy-filled attitude, and allow the power of the Holy Spirit to work through me to help others with increasing effectiveness, even while going through some of the most painful and difficult circumstances that I have ever been through in my life!

This fruit not only serves as a very significant mile marker in terms of my spiritual and personal growth, but it brings Glory to God, and acts as a magnetic and attractive force in the world at large, prompting others to curiously ask, "how are you able to stay so positive, happy, and steady so much of the time, even while going through things that are THAT challenging!?"

This of course, is the PRECISE question that we all should want non-believers, or those who have drifted away from the faith to ask, and as we answer, "seasoned with salt," (Colossians 4:6,) the incredible sense of fulfillment that we will feel as a result of being used mightily by God to win the world in this capacity will make all of the pain of realignment, accepting discipline and correction when we need it, and persevering in the faith, more than worth it, as we will reckon in retrospect the choices that we made to continue to pay the price along the way to get where we are in our Christian walk, seem like the no-brainer of all no-brainers!

If we faint not, we will unquestionably "reap a harvest of peace and righteousness!" (Hebrews 12:11)

I hope and Pray that this post has been a blessing to you, and has encouraged you to make a firm decision to trust God all the more, and continue to surrender to correction and discipline, and grow in faith and perseverance today!

God's richest Blessings,

Yours in Christ,

- NDV