Let Other Believers Help You Walk with Chris

တိုင္ပင္ျခင္းမရွိလွ်င္ အၾကံပ်က္တတ္၏။ တိုင္ပင္ေသာ သူမ်ားလွ်င္ မူကား၊ အၾကံ တည္တတ္၏။ (သုတၱံက်မ္း ၁၅ း ၂၂ )

Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success.

Proverbs 15:22 (NLT)

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We all need mentors – other believers – to guide us in our walk with Christ. We need people to coach and train us in ministry.

Mentors can bring out the best in you and help you achieve God’s unique mission for your life. Mentors help you keep growing – in your roles, your goals, and your soul.

Using mentors is common in a lot of professions. For instance, doctors mentor younger doctors; musicians mentor other musicians. If you search the Internet, you’ll find all kinds of organizations that are now using some sort of mentoring process.

Why? We learn best through mentors. Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success.” (NLT)

Is there someone advising you? If not, find a mentor – perhaps an older Christian who can help you on your path toward Jesus-like maturity, or a Christian who is a few steps ahead of you in his prayer life or a few steps ahead in her ability to witness.

When I’m with a mentor, I focus on these two things:

1. Ask questions – Proverbs 20:5 says, “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out.” (NIV) Everyone has a reservoir of knowledge, skills, and experience to share. You are being wise when you draw these out and learn from another.

You don’t have to limit asking questions to just one mentor you meet with on a regular basis. You can meet mentors anywhere. Make a little 3-by-5 card and keep it with you – with standard questions to ask every time you get around a quality person.

I have my own set of standard questions. Whenever I am around someone I can learn from, I pull out my card. I ask questions like:

• How do you handle stress?

• What have been the greatest successes in your life, and what are the causes of it?

• What were the greatest failures in your life?

• What would you do differently if you were doing life over?

• What kind of books do you read?

• How do you manage your time?

• How do you manage your money?

• What have been the greatest lessons you’ve learned?

• What have been the greatest surprises in your life?

2. Accept feedback – Ecclesiastes 7:5 says, “It is better to be criticized by a wise person than to be praised by a fool!” (NLT) Feedback is absolutely essential to fulfilling God’s mission for your life. If you don’t get feedback, you’re going to get off course.

Did you know that in all the Apollo space flights to the moon the astronauts had to do constant course corrections? The earth was turning, the moon was turning, and there was a rotation going on. In order to get the rocket to the spot on the moon where it was supposed to be at a certain time, the astronauts had to continually correct their course. To do so, they had to get feedback.

If you’re not open to feedback, you’re not going to learn, you’re not going to grow, and you’re not going to develop. You need to learn to accept criticism.

Go out and find someone you trust, someone with skills and experiences you can learn from, and ask that person to be your mentor.

(Editor’s Note: We’re excited to announce that your Daily Devotionals will now be from Pastor Rick Warren! We are grateful to Jon Walker for his season of ministry through these devotionals and wish him well as he continues his ministry journey.) ........Rick Warren