Are you the type to reach for a map when you’re looking for a location? Maybe you’re the kind of person that’s quick to ask someone for guidance to the correct aisle in the store. Do you read the directions on a package before cooking or comb through the assembly instructions of a project before taking your tools to it?
So if we’re so concerned about all the secondary issues of life, what makes us think that we can sail through our Christian walk without first learning how Scripture and people more (spiritually) mature than us can help us understand how to navigate through life?
How many of us can raise a hand to stumbling and fumbling through some rocky storms, that may not have left us with so much PTSD if we had the tools to stand firm and know that GOD was always there for us?
Decades later, I realize that some of those mistakes and missteps could have been avoided if I had someone to disciple me — someone to have shown me and nurtured the truth of the Word in me so that I could better understand that my commitment to the Lord far outweighs anything else in life — because He is Life and He saved mine.
We proclaim Him, warning and instructing everyone in all wisdom [that is, with comprehensive insight into the word and purposes of God], so that we may present every person complete in Christ [mature, fully trained, and perfect in Him—the Anointed]. Colossians 1:28 Amplified
But continue to grow and increase in God’s grace and intimacy with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May he receive all the glory both now and until the day eternity begins. Amen! 2 Peter 3:18 The Passion Translation
Just as a child left to himself will remain a child mentally and emotionally, a new Believer will not grow spiritually when left unattended. Growth is stunted due to a lack of nourishment and proper training.
Maybe you’re in that season now … wandering through a wilderness … confused or not knowing where to begin. Turn around, Friend, there just may be someone ready and willing to help you walk that journey and give you the guidance you need.
Or it’s possible that you are on the giving end of this exchange and can help a younger sister understand what this new life is all about. Mentoring and discipling a new believer isn’t neuroscience. Together, both individuals will learn and grow. It’s just that one has experienced a track-record with the Lord and has gained wisdom from lessons learned along the way.
If we’re honest, we can raise a hand to having stumbled and fumbled through our Christian walk at some point in time. The important thing is that we didn’t chose to remain there is that half-grown condition. No one walks a perfectly straight line and no one lives a perfectly spotless life. We are all in need of the Perfect One to show us the way. But we need His teachings through a loving person with skin to convey that way as it is written in the Scriptures so we can apply it to our life.
Encouraging … uplifting … praying … comforting … all these things are what we learn from experiencing them with others. How to make decisions through the lens of our new life requires someone knowledgeable about how to proceed forward without the mishap of falling backward into our old lifestyle.
The Apostle Paul mentored Timothy so that he was equipped to confidently lead the newly formed local churches in Ephesus. Timothy was chronologically young, but full of the Spirit and selected to pastor these new believers.
Let no one look down on [you because of] your youth, but be an example and set a pattern for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in [moral] purity. 1 Timothy 4:12 Amplified
Evidence points to Peter having dictated much of his recordings of his eye witness accounts to the Lord Jesus through the Disciple, Mark, who penned the Book of Mark. Mark is said to have been influenced by both the Apostles Peter and Paul.
She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 1 Peter 5:13 ESV
Investing in a relationship with a new believer could yield amazing blessings for both parties involved. An extraordinary bond is formed that is unlike any casual friendship, breaking through fears and sharing of hopes, leading to a potential ripple effect that could span generations.
If your local church doesn’t have a mentorship program, pray about getting one started with just a few mature believing women with a heart filled with love and compassion, a history with the Lord that testifies to His Faithfulness in their life and basic knowledge of His Redemptive power to turn lives around. Speak with your church elders and get the conversation started. You never know what unexpected blessings will blossom from your relationships.
As iron sharpens iron,
So one man sharpens [and influences] another [through discussion]. Proverbs 27:17 Amplified
And all that you’ve learned from me, confirmed by the integrity of my life, deposit into faithful leaders who are competent to teach the congregations the same revelation. 2 Timothy 2:2 The Passion Translation
I love you to Heaven and Back, Girlfriend ~~
LindaRJohnson, TitusTwo Visionary
Titus Two 