Lesson 2 Characteristics of a Mentor
Question 3 and 4
And so we have seen that to mentor others we need to be receiving love from Jesus at the cross, and we need to be walking in the Spirit. We are all a work in progress, and we are all growing in this area.
Also, one of the most important attributes that we will grow in, if we are focused on the cross, is humility. Please read the following passage of Scripture:
Philippians 2:3-8 (NIV) Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death —even death on a cross! Do you see how Jesus kept lowering Himself? First God became Man, then as a Man He became a servant, then He lowered Himself further to die on a criminal's cross. As we look at the cross we see that this is the humility we are to have. We are to be like a waterfall that seeks to keep going lower and lower, just like Jesus.
The way we get this humility is by looking at the cross and seeing what Jesus suffered for us, how He loved us unto death and how He did not consider Himself above dying in place of us. We wash there at the cross, and it humbles our hearts and makes us grateful!
Question 3. How does looking at the cross of Jesus Christ foster humility in our hearts?
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We do not want to mentor others in pride, claiming to be some kind of expert. None of us are "professionals", rather we are those who need to change helping those who need to change. All of us are merely Christians, who are described as bond-servants (Romans 1:1) and foot washers (John 13:14). Your role as a Christian, friend, is to serve, to minister the gospel, to "wash the feet" (metaphorically) of those whom God sends your way. Notice again the humility required:
John 13:13-16 (NIV) You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. One of the ways we can express this humility is in the asking of questions and learning from those we mentor. Each person you mentor has a unique story, life lessons that they have learned that would benefit us as well as them. Learn to ask questions of your students and to learn from them.
Finally, to use another analogy, a good shepherd smells like sheep as he is walking right with them, not yelling at them from afar, and we want to be people who "smell like a sheep", not pontificate like a pope. That means that we share our story to let them know we identify with them, and we share our struggles and how looking at, and washing at the cross is slowly transforming us along with them. We continually point people to the cross where they might lose their pride, too.
Question 4. What is the importance of humility in the role of mentoring others?
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