Daily Devotional

When it came time for Jenn and I to start having babies, I have to admit, I didn’t know a lot about them…and frankly, I didn’t like them very much. All they do is eat and poop…then they start crying at very inopportune times, like the movie theater or during the sermon at church.

One thing I learned very quickly with our firstborn daughter was, a child is born into a state of complete dependence on others. I mean my daughter couldn’t do anything. She had to be fed, changed, carried around. Everything had to be done for her. But the cool thing is, as she matured, she learned to walk, feed herself, and go to the bathroom. As time went by, she learned to be independent from us, learning to live her life without us doing everything for her.

It’s amazing how the Lord parallels the birth of a child with the journey of a believer in Christ. When we first come into a relationship with Him, we don’t have a clue how to live the Christian life. We need to have someone guide us in our walk with Christ. Just as babies need parents to guide them, so a new believer needs to be mentored by a ‘spiritual parent’.

Ephesians 4:14 says “As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”

Mentors keep us accountable
Immature Christians can be drawn in by trickery and craftiness and deceitful scheming. The world’s teaching includes things that seem to be true, but actually fall short of God’s Word. And we can be tempted to pursue worldly beliefs. We read what people write on social media and watch videos of people who claim to know the right way to live. And every worldview wants us to believe their way. We have to have people in our life who know the Word of God and can quickly identify false teaching so we are not drawn away from God’s way to live.

Mentors guide us
We need mature believers around us. The Lord wants us to live the Christian life this way, placing us in the body of Christ with older, more mature believers, who can speak into our lives. A spiritual mentor can give you truthful guidance. They’ve lived the Christian life. They’ve made mistakes. They’ve learned from them. And if we can learn through their mistakes, we can be saved from the trauma of having to make those mistakes ourselves.

Mentors need to be asked
It’s very awkward to offer to mentor someone. You go up to someone and say, “I think you need to be mentored in your walk with Christ, and I’d like to do that for you.” Sounds prideful, right? But if you go up to someone who’s your same gender, older than you, been a Christian longer, and knows the Word of God and ask them to mentor you, I guarantee you, they will be honored.

The church designed the church like a body so that believers don’t walk the Christian life alone. You need to find someone who can pour into your life on a regular basis. Someone you trust when you share your struggles. Someone who will point you to the truth of God’s Word. And pray for you. And as they offer you guidance, if you’re teachable, you will start to grow spiritually in a way you never thought possible. That’s why mentors are important.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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