Lesson 2 Characteristics of a Mentor
Questions 1 and 2
So glad to have you back for Day 2 of the Mentorship course. Let’s get started.
In Luke 4, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 61 and declares that He is the fulfillment of the passage,“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18 NIV Jesus sets captives free! If we wish to help those who are captives to sin then we ourselves must be experiencing the grace that Christ gives at the cross. This means that we need to be looking at the cross ourselves, and embracing Jesus’ love for us. We need to sense our heart changing and our lives being transformed (either slowly or quickly). We are learning to wash at the cross, walk by the Spirit and war against our flesh. God is changing our hearts toward our previous sin, and giving us a specific plan to defeat it. These are the things we will be sharing with students.
2 Corinthians 3: 16-18 NIV, “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” This does not mean that we must be perfect and sinless, or none of us would ever mentor. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:12 NIV). In order to help others, we need to be growing in our relationship with Christ and experiencing the love of Jesus ourselves. Not perfect, just growing in grace. Galatians 6:1 NIV Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Question 1. What kind of person is to be helping those who are caught in a sin?
This passage is clear that it is those who “live by the Spirit” who are to restore those caught in sin. Keeping this in mind, let’s compare another passage:
Galatians 5:16 NIV So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.