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All of us are here today because of our relationship with “that person”. You know, the one who made a profound impact on your life. For me, a few men made me who I am today.
It was a man named Bob who invested into me when I was in college and helped me see my need for Jesus. It was a man named John who discipled me and taught me how to read the scriptures. It was a man named Steve who showed me the father heart of God and helped me overcome my fatherless past.
Who got you to where you are today? Who has invested into you?
Whether it was a parent, professor, coach, or someone else, all of us are who we are today because of the investment of others.
You are here today to learn how to invest into others. You could be “that person” for your future mentee.
There are million of kids today who could use a positive adult to come alongside them to support and love them. Some of our kids are dealing with some pretty tough challenges, such as fatherlessness, poverty, and abuse. Others could use another adult to comfort them during hard times and to pick them up when they fall down. We all could use as much encouragement as we can get.
We believe that is the job of a mentor:
- To make a disciple: “Follow me as a follow Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1
- A disciple is a follower. You follow Christ and your mentee gets the opportunity follow you.
- Kids will experience Jesus as they experience you. What an amazing opportunity to show them the love of Christ through your relationship. You get to teach them with your words and show them with your actions what it means to follow Jesus Christ.
- The bible tells us to love God, love others, and make disciples.
- You love God. Mentoring is an excellent way to love others. And you have the joy to disciple them by creating a relationship based on trust, grace, and truth.
- To fulfill potential: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
- We want to be a support and guide as your mentee grows and matures. Our desire is to offer wisdom and instruction when they face obstacles in their journey. As they trek down this path of life, we are on the sidelines championing them. We have the opportunity to teach tangible skills, as well as how to navigate the emotional, mental, and relationsal twists and turns of life.
A mentor’s job description:
SHOW UP: Showing up is the most important thing you can do as a mentor. How do you build any successful relationship? You spend time with that person.You learn new things about them and you experience life with them. You make them feel important. You make them feel valued. You make them feel like you matter. And you do that by showing up.
BUILD UP: Our desire is for our mentors to speak truth into the lives of our mentee. We want our mentors to encourage our mentees with every word that comes out of their mouth. Our words matter. Our tone matters. Our facial expressions and body language matter. We want our Forerunners to know that their mentors are for them, no matter what.
SHARE JESUS: As a mentor, you cannot give away what you don’t have. More than anything, we want our mentees to love Jesus Christ with all of their hearts. They will learn how to do that by emulating you. We are not here to produce good men. We are here to produce followers of Christ.
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Contact us at zach@youcanmentor.com or at www.youcanmentor.com
Creators and Guests
What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring organizations through resources and relationships to love God, love others and make disciples. Learn more at you can mentor.com or follow us on social media. You can mentor. Today, we're answering the question, what is mentoring and what is a mentor? I 100% believe that the Lord can use you to help a mentee in your community fulfill their potential and experience the love of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Why do I believe that? It's because the Lord used a mentor to transform my life. An adult came into my world and helped me see myself how God sees me and helped me experience the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. And I know that if the Lord can use mentoring to transform my life, He can use you to help a kid transform their life as well. Let me start off with a question.
Speaker 1:All of us here today, we're here because of a relationship with, quote, unquote, that person. You know, the one who made a profound impact on your life. For me, there's a few men that made me who I am today. It was a man named Bob who invested into me whenever I was in college and helped me see my need for Jesus. It was a guy named John who discipled me and taught me how to read the scriptures.
Speaker 1:It was my current mentor, Steve, who showed me the father heart of God and helped me overcome my fatherless past. You see, there's no such thing as a self made person. We are all here today because of the investments of someone else. So who got you to where you are today? Who has invested into you?
Speaker 1:Whether it was a parent, a professor, a coach, or someone else, all of us are who we are today because of the investment of others. And if you're listening to this, you are trying to learn how to invest into the lives of others. You're mentee. You could be that person for them whenever they become an adult. You see, there are millions of kids today who could use a positive adult to come alongside them to support and love them.
Speaker 1:Some of our kids are dealing with some pretty tough challenges, such as fatherlessness, poverty, and abuse. Others could just use another adult to comfort them during hard times, and to pick them up when they fall down. All of us could use as much encouragement as we can possibly get. We believe that the job of a mentor is as follows. Number 1, to make a disciple.
Speaker 1:1st Corinthians 11:1 says, follow me as I follow Christ. A disciple is a follower, and mentoring is this. You as the mentor follow Christ, and your mentee gets the opportunity to follow you. Your mentee will experience Jesus as they experience you. What an amazing opportunity to show them the love of Christ through your relationship.
Speaker 1:You get to teach them with your words, but also show them with your actions what it means to follow Jesus and to live a life worthy of him. The Bible tells us to love God, love others, and make disciples. And that's what mentoring is all about. You love God. It's a fantastic way to love others, specifically your mentee and their family.
Speaker 1:And you have the joy to disciple them by creating a relationship based on trust, grace, and truth. The next job of a mentor is to fulfill their potential. Proverbs 22:6 says, train up a child in the way he should go. Even when he is old, he will not depart from it. We, as mentors, want to be a support and a guide as your mentee grows and matures.
Speaker 1:Our desire is to offer wisdom and instruction when they face obstacles in their journey. As they trek down this path of life, we are on the sidelines championing them, encouraging them every step they take. We have the opportunity to teach tangible skills as well as show them how to navigate the emotional, mental, and relational twists and turns of life. This is what Christian mentoring is all about. It's helping fulfill the potential in our mentee while showing and sharing with them the love of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:So now that you know what a mentor is, what is it that a mentor does? Well, being a mentor is all about building relationships because we here at You Can Mentor believe that relationships change lives. Sermons and books are helpful. Podcasts and websites can teach you a thing or 2, but God has always used people as a way to bring others closer to him. That's why Jesus came to Earth and spent the majority of his time with 12 people.
Speaker 1:There are many unique and fun ways to build relationships, but these three things must be at the foundation of any effective Christian mentoring relationship. We call this a mentor's job description. Number 1, show up. Showing up is the most important thing you can do as a mentor. How do you build any successful relationships?
Speaker 1:You spend time with that person. You learn new things about them, and you experience life with them. You make them feel important. You make them feel valued. You make them feel like they matter.
Speaker 1:And you do that by showing up, making eye contact, listening, asking good questions. Those are all great ways that you can show up for your mentee. The next one is build up. Our desire for our mentors is that they speak truth into the lives of their mentee. We want mentors to encourage their mentees with every word that comes out of their mouth because words matter.
Speaker 1:Tone matters. Facial expressions and body language matter. And we want our mentees to know that we are for them no matter what. Whenever they leave from hanging out with you, we want them to be encouraged with a smile on their face and feeling like they're the most important people in the world. Lastly, we have share Jesus.
Speaker 1:As a mentor, you cannot give away what you don't have. And more than anything, we want our mentees to love Jesus Christ with all of their hearts. They will learn how to do that by watching and emulating you. We are not here to produce good students or good children. We are here to produce followers of Christ.
Speaker 1:Of course, we want them to be good students and positive people, but our main objective is for them to build a relationship with Jesus. One last note. The safety of you and your mentee is always top priority. If you suspect abuse or harm, please do not hesitate to contact the authorities or your mentoring organization. We will not say this during every single podcast, but know that it is always implied that safety needs to be top of mind when spending time with your mentee.
Speaker 1:So that's what a Christian mentor does, and that's what Christian mentoring is. We hope you enjoyed this podcast and picked up a thing or 2. If you will, please follow us on social media. Give us a 5 star review, and share this podcast with any mentoring friends you have. Learn more at you can mentor.com.
Speaker 1:Thanks a lot. Have a great day. Thanks for tuning in to the You Can Mentor podcast. Please share this with other mentors and download our free resources on our website. You can also order Zach's book, You Can Mentor, or John's book, Mephibsheth, on Amazon.
Speaker 1:Lastly, we'd really appreciate it if you gave us a 5 star rating on whatever listening platform you are tuning in on. If you'd like to connect with us further, please contact us through our website because we're always looking for new guests or connections. Thank you. And remember, you can mentor.