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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 podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest into the lives of others. Find out more at youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You can mentor. Welcome to the You Can Mentor Podcast.
Speaker 1:This is your boy, Zach. I'm with the Murdaugh.
Speaker 2:Are you ever gonna update the music for this podcast, or is it just
Speaker 1:gonna be I like the music. Okay. What's wrong with the music?
Speaker 2:I I'm I'm I'm not hating.
Speaker 1:Well, it sounded like you're like you picked the music.
Speaker 2:It sounded like you were working on a jingle there. So
Speaker 1:Well, this isn't going how I thought it would. This is great. Alright. Mentors, mentoring, ladies and gentlemen. Today, me and Stephen Murray, executive director of Foreigner Mentoring Program in Dallas, Texas, we're talking about, quote, unquote, three thoughts about not giving up.
Speaker 1:That's what we're talking about, Murdoch.
Speaker 2:What I what I texted you is the sin of giving up. Is that too intense?
Speaker 1:That's what you texted me. Of not giving up?
Speaker 2:The sin of giving up. Oh, maybe I didn't text that to That was the header. Maybe I didn't copy and paste that.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's I don't know if it's a sin. Is it a sin? Okay. So let me
Speaker 2:let me read the scripture that sent me down a rabbit trail. I've been trying to read the Bible in the month of January. Wait. I can't talk about the Bible on your podcast?
Speaker 1:Just let's give some context here. Okay. So Stephen and I are friends. We used to work together. We love mentoring.
Speaker 1:I feel like we've got some good chemistry here on the podcast, and this is how we do it. I sent Stephen a text yesterday morning, said, hey. We got podcast tomorrow. What do you wanna talk about? He sends me a podcast at, like, midnight with these three things, this long paragraph, and that's how we got here.
Speaker 1:So now talk about how we got here, Stephen.
Speaker 2:Yes. So I've been reading the Bible, which is what I do. That's our first recommendation on this podcast, read your word. There there are these guys that do this Bible reading plan called the shred. And so you read, like, 40 chapters a day, and it's just ridiculous.
Speaker 2:But you get a wide swath of the the story of the Bible. And this passage in first Samuel 12 stood out to me. This is Samuel talking to the Israelites, who he is clearly upset with because of decisions they're making. And he says this. He says, Samuel said to the people, do not fear.
Speaker 2:You've committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit or deliver because they are futile. For the Lord will not abandon his people on account of his great name because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for himself. Moreover and this is this is the point. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, but I will instruct you in the good and right way.
Speaker 2:There's Samuel choosing not to give up on God's people, and I just I just love that part. Part be it for me that I should cease praying for you, but I'll instruct you in the good and right way. So that is the sin of giving up. That was my my thought is what does it look like to be committed to committed to people in your life, maybe your mentoring relationship, and maybe you're feeling like things are going south, and they're like the Israelites. They I don't know.
Speaker 2:They might not say, we want a king. There's we want a new mentor, or I don't know what they say. But I think I think it it's a fun thought to think of that giving up is a sin. I just that kind of, like, wakes me up a little bit. Like, I don't wanna be I don't wanna give up.
Speaker 2:And, I mean, the apostle Paul talks about not growing weary and doing good. And yeah. So that that's where my thoughts came. Sorry for leaving out my headline.
Speaker 1:No, please. I don't know if it's a sin. I'm not gonna go that far. But what I will say is God probably doesn't like it. And so, you know, I think about that verse in Hebrews 10 where it talks about shrinking back.
Speaker 1:Right? But we do not belong to those who shrink back, but to those who have faith. Right? And I'm just like, man, just to kinda take y'all back on where we came from in regards to you can mentor. Right?
Speaker 1:It's like, at the very beginning, we were like, we're just gonna create these contents and books and podcasts, and it's gonna be great. And we're gonna teach people how to mentor. And I think that's good. I think that there's a place for that. But the more we get into it, the more we kinda stumbled upon this.
Speaker 1:Yep. People need equipping, but more than anything, they need encouragement because we have seen it so often. A mentor gets excited. I've got a mentee. I'm gonna change his life.
Speaker 1:It's gonna be great. He spends time with the mentee. The mentee does not respond how he thinks that he should respond. He gets discouraged, and then he quits. That is the typical, like, excitement, meeting, disappointment, quit.
Speaker 1:And so which is not encouraging. But but I will say that we talk a lot about not giving up because there's such a temptation to give up because the enemy is just gonna fill your head with lies. You could be doing something else. This kid's not not gonna change. This kid doesn't value you.
Speaker 1:You should be spending time with someone who right? And so on. And so so I think it's very important for us to to talk about this. If you're a mentoring leader and you're honest with yourself, it's hard. It's very difficult to build relationships with the kids and the families who have experienced hard things.
Speaker 1:If you are a mentor, odds are your kid is not coming to you every week and saying, thank you so much, mister Mentor. I just really value your wisdom, and I appreciate you. I was, you know, going down a bad path, doing drugs, having sex, and now I'm reading the bible in a month just like Stephen Murray. Right? Like, he isn't isn't gonna say that.
Speaker 1:And so we have to learn about endurance. We have to learn about perseverance. We have to learn about not giving up because the temptation is real. So anything else to add there, Murdoch?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I mean, there there are a lot of things. The three things that I sent you are my thoughts. Well If I tell you, should I tell
Speaker 1:Let no. You shouldn't tell me. You should let me facilitate this conversation. Okay? I'm in charge here, not you.
Speaker 1:Alright?
Speaker 2:Do you sit there and you form questions for my answers?
Speaker 1:I have a document right here that I'm staring at that I'm about to follow. Okay? Alright. So the title of this podcast is three thoughts about not giving up by Stephen Murray. And the first one is this.
Speaker 2:Also, maybe is it a sin?
Speaker 1:I mean, maybe. I don't I don't know. Just don't do it. Just don't give up. But let me be real with you, Stephen, this morning in my time with God.
Speaker 1:While I wasn't in the Bible for 40 chapters, I did think about God. And this really encouraged me. Like, this is good. This is and I'm gonna be honest, not everything that you give me is good, but this is good. Alright?
Speaker 1:So if you're listening, you're in for a treat. Okay. Number one, spiritual formation is meant to be slow. Okay? So, Stephen, I'm gonna give you this quote, and you tell me what you think.
Speaker 1:Okay? Mentoring is not like a microwave, but instead, it's like a slow cooker. It's a smoker. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2:Oh, smoker. Yeah. Yeah. I'm I mean, have you ever bit into a breakfast sandwich that you put in the microwave, where it's like the English muffin becomes, like, literally like a sponge. It's like you you think you're eating a scrub daddy.
Speaker 2:Like, it's terrible. I've I've really I've not I I've never not enjoyed what's been cooked in a slow cooker, but it also takes a considerable, like, amount of time to to get there. And I just I think it's a good principle to consider if sport spiritual formation is slow, what's maybe that's by design. Maybe God's original intent was to do a work over time and not just, you know, create these shortcuts. I I mean, you probably heard pastor say, like, you know, Jesus will show up, and he's he never heals people of immaturity.
Speaker 2:It's always, you know, he he may advance, you know, water into wine and do that with objects and and things to declare his glory, but he never moves people who are idiots and make makes them, you know, wise beyond their years. It's always no. It takes years to develop wisdom. And I the the story that came to mind in my head was like, you know, the apostle Paul where, you know, we can we can all agree that the apostle Paul, before he was Paul, he was Saul, and he devoted his life to the scripture. And, you know, that took him in such a way that his interpretation was that Jesus was a a apostate and needed to be taken out, and his followers needed to be taken out.
Speaker 2:And then he has an encounter with God where his eyes are blinded. Jesus says, why are you persecuting me? And how you kind of imagine it goes is that Paul just, like, wakes up, and he's like, I've been going the wrong way, and I need to go preach the good news to the Gentiles and all this stuff. But, actually, when you read the scripture, it's like he goes away to the desert and sits in solitude for years. I wrote a rap song about the book of Galatians and the passage where after this, Paul says, I went away to Arabia and then returned once more to Damascus.
Speaker 2:My rap song wasn't that great, but I always remember him saying he went away to Arabia. I don't know what you think about when you think about Arabia. I think of a desert. I think of Paul being alone, thinking about, you know, what he's gonna do with the rest of his life. And maybe his encounter was transformational, but that was a day that he spent years developing the man that he was gonna become.
Speaker 2:And that man came from solitude. It came from him devoting years of his life to getting it right. And I don't know. In some way, I I feel like we would be shortchanged if Paul just got up and, like, was about face preaching the gospel. But the thing that gives me hope is that his transformation was slow, and God was doing a work in him that sustained him for most of his life traveling, preaching the word, and amidst people that probably, you know, thought that he was against them.
Speaker 2:And I don't know. In some way, that just speaks to me that, God is in it for the long haul. He wants to slow cook us, not just to microwave us out of our our path. And so mentoring is a journey.
Speaker 1:Well, and, I mean, for those of you guys who know your bible, Stephen's talking about Galatians one seventeen and eighteen where it talks about after his encounter with God, he goes into the desert for three years. And it's there that that the foundation is kinda set. Right? So one thing that I always think about with our mentees is they're kids. Like, they are children.
Speaker 1:And I've got kids. Right? I've got a kid who's 10 right now. And he thinks he's smart, and he's not the smartest cat out there. Like, he makes unwise choices.
Speaker 1:And and and he has had a pretty good life. Like, he hasn't experienced food insecurity. He hasn't experienced trauma. He hasn't experienced having to move or, you know, insecurity, instability like some of our kids have. And so it's always important to remember that we're dealing with kids here, and they probably aren't going to radically transform overnight whenever they're 12 years old because they spend an hour with their mentee or with their mentor.
Speaker 1:Right? This does take time. It reminds me of the Chinese I think it's a bit I think it's good old bamboo tree where for years, you put this bamboo tree in the ground, and it looks like nothing's happening. And then almost overnight, it shoots up, like, 90 feet. And on on the surface, it looks like nothing's happening, but underground, the roots are going deep.
Speaker 1:And so you as a mentor, it is meant to be slow because the foundation is slow. Like, if you're building a house, the thing that always takes the longest is the foundation. And so, let us remember that as mentors. Steven, you're kind of a runner, which is very impressive to me. I mean, you don't look like a runner.
Speaker 1:You have a beard. I don't know guys who have beards who've run, but you do. Let's talk about how it's more like, a marathon than a sprint. You told me about zone two running, which I have no idea what that is, but why don't you talk about that?
Speaker 2:It's it's almost like this this trend getting into the running sphere where it's like, it's cool to run slow and run for hours and not just, like, get your PR, which I really appreciate. But there's a there's a guy in my life group. He's like, his goal is to run a fifteen minute mile. And I'm like, that is that's terrible. And he's like, well, you don't understand.
Speaker 2:I'm building my aerobic base. And I'm, like, learning all this stuff, and it's not just a trend, like, to get people who are fat to run, but it's like all of these guys who are ultramarathon runners have lived in this zone where they can run and talk and not grow weary and just go for hours. And the more you sit in that pace that you just pace yourself, the more your ability is to run fast. And and so it's like go slow to go fast. And and so zone two is like whatever pace you can run and carry a conversation, which I I hate talking when I'm running.
Speaker 2:And it's not because I don't enjoy fellowship. It's because I start heaving and wanna die if I have a conversation while I'm running. But the I I think how I attribute it to mentoring is that, you know, running a, you know, six minute mile is pretty flashy, but being able to run for fifteen minutes for hours is gonna be the thing that actually shows that, you know, your your running is not, you know, dependent upon these, your best, if that makes sense. And I and I think sometimes mentoring can be about the big gestures and not about the slow, like, I'm gonna be consistent for seasons, not just for a season. Because I I I think that allows you to see the whole person grow.
Speaker 2:And, I mean, if you if you run for hours, you're gonna burn more calories than if you're just running for, you know, ten, fifteen minutes and you burn out. And so I think that happens to a lot of mentors that they focus on the big gestures, and they get tired because they're trying to one up themselves. And it's like, I'll take you to the arcade, but now I gotta take you to Dave and Buster's. And then what's after Dave and Buster's? Like, there's nothing there's nothing after Dave and Buster's.
Speaker 2:That's that's that's peak. So let's let's talk about playing Pac Man and chill out as mentors. What does zone two mentoring look like?
Speaker 1:And I think this thought of the best mentors aren't faithful for a season, they're faithful for seasons, plural. I think that's a very strong statement, Stephen. And only if you stay in the game for the long haul. Right? If you don't quit, you win.
Speaker 1:If you stay consistent for the long haul, you will see growth. It will happen. It just might take a whole lot longer than you think. But, man, what a great opportunity we have as mentors to show this kid that you're not going anywhere, to show them that you are faithful just like God is faithful, that you are consistent just like God is consistent. And so, also, like, you you really get to know someone whenever you've been with them for years.
Speaker 1:Right? Like, one of the reasons why I think it's great that we do this podcast is because we've known each other for, I mean, over a decade.
Speaker 2:A decade. And Okay.
Speaker 1:It's yeah, has it been that long? It's great. Love it. But yeah. But that
Speaker 2:I know I know, like, three people. I've known, like, three people that long. It's like you, my wife, and I had, like, one friend in high school. Two people. So yeah.
Speaker 2:So yeah.
Speaker 1:That's great. Okay. So number one, slow I mean, spiritual formation is meant to be slow. So if it's going slow, Mentor, don't get frustrated. Just know that that's normal.
Speaker 1:Right? Number two, relationships are uncomfortable on purpose. Tell me more about that, Murdoch.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I I mean, relationships are meant to build people, and so nothing gets built without friction. So maybe your irritation is an opportunity to recognize something's being built here, whether it's something that needs to be removed or something that needs to be strengthened. I always feel like any any friction that I feel in relationship, it keeps me awake. It lets you know that you're alive.
Speaker 2:But, also, I I think there's there's an understanding that, okay. Every relationship I'm in is going somewhere. And if I'm experiencing frustration, maybe it's an opportunity to reset and recalibrate my eyes and look ahead and think about what is this unto? What am I trying, to do here, and what am I about? So any I mean, any pain that you feel is usually something in your past, something you're present, or something you're hoping for that you're not seeing.
Speaker 2:So what is it? Is it your past? Is it what you're experiencing presently? Is it a promise that you're believing for that your heart aches because you're not seeing it? I I think that relationships are uncomfortable on purpose, and so mentoring relationships are not meant to just be a cloud of indifference, that you don't face adversity.
Speaker 2:Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. I mean, the the ability for both of those things to be sharpened, you know, you're not just sharpening the kid that you're mentoring. He's you're getting sharpened as well in that transaction. So I'm not I mean, I feel like sometimes we lose sight of that, and we need to talk to other people about what we're facing. There was a a guy who inspired me to join Forerunner.
Speaker 2:I mean, the dude straight up burned me. And I and then I'm sitting and I'm trying to, like, reconcile what the heck to do, and I'm feeling all of this pain and frustration, and I wanna quit. I wanna murder the dude. Can I say that on here? I know your
Speaker 1:podcast You can't. But
Speaker 2:Well, murdering my heart. My heart. In my heart.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Man, it sounds as if you need to read some more bible.
Speaker 2:I mean, this guy was not the Lord's anointed. So I think I think the Lord would be like, yeah. Like no. I'm just kidding. But the the thought of, man, I need someone else's eyes on this thing, and I need perspective and someone who's maybe been here before.
Speaker 2:And I called one of the mentors in Forerunner, and I said, hey. I let me just interrupt your entire night and walk you through my history with this guy. And and he just opened up to me and, I mean, walked through and just gave gave me a lot of care in saying, you know, it's okay that you're where you're at and strengthen me in prayer. And I I think that's that's something that we all need to hear when there's any friction in our relationships. It's like if there is uncomfortability in my marriage and I never talk to anyone about that and I lose sight of what's going on and why God's placed me in this relationship and what my calling is as a husband and how to show up, like, that's that has very drastic effects on my family line that if if I don't have somebody say, hey.
Speaker 2:Like, it's okay to have conflict. It's not okay to stay where you're at, and you need perspective. So in any relationship, uncomfortability, don't don't stay there, but recognize there's a purpose for it and there there is an opportunity to grow.
Speaker 1:Man, I remember I was I was probably married three or four years, and I had this guy who was one of my one of my mentors. We would grab coffee probably every month or so, and he was a therapist. And so one day, we're sitting there, and he's like, how's it going with your marriage? I'm like, oh, it's great, man. Like, we don't ever fight.
Speaker 1:We just things are fantastic. And he kinda kinda takes a sip of his coffee, and he looks at me. And he goes, I don't think that's as good as you think it is. I'm like, what? And he's like, well, if if you're not fighting, if there's no conflict, then someone's not being real because the closer you are with someone, the more conflict there is, the more opportunity there is.
Speaker 1:And he was right. Over the next couple years, me and my wife uncovered some of this stuff, and it turns out that she did have some things that I, that she didn't like about how I was, treating her or how I was, you know, trying trying to live life. And so we did some counseling, and the next couple years were terrible. Like, we fought all the time. And I was like, man, this is the complete opposite.
Speaker 1:And while I can look back and say that that that sure was hard, man, it it it created trust and and connection, and now we're doing better than ever. But we couldn't have done that if there wasn't this conflict. And you said this. You said, when things feel hard, your perspective. Right?
Speaker 1:It's the past. It's remember what God has done. Remember his faithfulness. It's the present. It's why you signed up for this in the first place.
Speaker 1:And then focusing on his kind of promises, remembering who he is, remembering hope, remembering what he talks about. And so and, man, you're spot on. It's so important that we don't do this in isolation because in isolation, you die. You have to be open with people. You have to lean on others for perspective to get their per you know, to get their point of view on things, to receive comfort, to receive encouragement.
Speaker 1:And so relationships are uncomfortable on purpose. This is how God makes us look more like him is through relationships. The sandpaper of the souls, that is relationship. And so, the thing about your mentee too is probably they're gonna do something to make you upset on purpose to kinda test you and to see if you're real, see if you'll leave. Right?
Speaker 1:It's kind of this, they don't know that they're doing it, but it's this defense kind of mechanism. And so, let's lean into the discomfort. Let's let's not give up. Let's stay engaged. Let's remind ourselves that this isn't a time to withdraw, but instead it's a time to grow and that God is faithful.
Speaker 1:And and it's good. So hard is good.
Speaker 2:The thing that also helps is, like, acknowledging that this is probably hard for them, and they're not as mature as you to understand that that is for their good. And so if if you're sensing that your mentee, is uncomfortable in the sense that they're being challenged, like, you can have, a lot more grace for them because they probably never had a mentor before. They've probably not experienced this level of uncomfortability, and there's a knee jerk reaction that comes with that. And so you gotta keep your cool and keep showing up and show them that the uncomfortability that they're feeling is actually something that they should crave, not something that they should, you know, try to avoid and get away from because the rest of your life is going to be hard. But just because it's hard doesn't mean there's not benefit.
Speaker 2:And, I mean, some something that I have tried to be intentional is just, like, put myself in their shoes to be like, that was a hard conversation. And there may be some need to, like, pause and acknowledge the uncomfortability and cast vision of, like, hey. Why am I your mentor? I'm your mentor because I love and care for you, and I want to prepare you for your future. And I wanna be a model and example of what it looks like to walk in uncomfortability and grow.
Speaker 2:And so even just taking a moment to acknowledge it, it's like, again, by design, growth is slow. Relationships are uncomfortable. So every every boy needs to hear that because they're gonna want the exact opposite of that. They're gonna want things to move quickly. They're gonna want the relationship to leave them feeling great, and it's not always gonna be that.
Speaker 1:There's no such thing as a quick fix, man. No such thing. And I can remember, right, like, as some of you guys know, I grew up, didn't have dad around. And, yeah, putting yourself in the shoes of your mentee, man, here's a kid who has experienced a hard life sitting with a stranger who's telling them what to do. Like, yeah, that's hard.
Speaker 1:So I I can remember I had a a guy on my board. You know, I was probably 28. So, like, I wasn't a kid. I was an adult now. And this guy would just, you know, for my good, he would just wear me out.
Speaker 1:He would tell me all the things that I was doing wrong and, like obviously, his his heart was good, but just how how he delivered the news to me, I did not jive with. It didn't land well. You know, I was insecure and got all these wounds. I had lunch with, one of my friends, like, right after me and this guy had a big fight. And I was just complaining.
Speaker 1:I was like, man, this guy, he, like, he's too harsh. He's too he's always focused on the bad. And this guy just looks at me, and he's like, haven't you ever gotten chewed out before? And I was like, yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1:No. No. No. I haven't. And he's like, dude, my dad used to chew me out all the time, and I get chewed out all the time at work.
Speaker 1:And it's just what happens when you're in relationship. And it was at that moment that I was like, man, I've never experienced that, and that's not a good thing. It's like, obviously, I'm not saying that you should be harsh with your mentee. You should but but but, like, if your mentee doesn't experience that conflict, that, like, someone disciplining or someone challenging, that's not gonna go well for them. And so and that is uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:It's it's hard to have the hard conversation. So just know that. Last one, Murdoch. Opposition is to be expected. I think one thing that you said to me that I thought was really profound is that verse, don't grow weary in doing good.
Speaker 1:Well, that's because the enemy wants to make you weary. Like, that is his plan. That is his job. And it's our job to stay filled up. It's our job to persevere, to have endurance, which only comes from the Lord and other people.
Speaker 1:So it's good. Yep. Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And, I mean okay. So so Hebrews 12, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. I'm sure that the enemy wanted to afford Jesus' design to pay for our sins with his body, blood poured out. But Jesus had a joy, like a heartfelt hope expectation that God was going to use that sacrifice to change the world and restore all things, put things to rights.
Speaker 2:And, I mean, you have to believe that the entire world, the flesh, the devil was opposed to that action that he was taking and maybe even participating in his death. But the the thing that I I love so much is thinking, okay. I get to honor Jesus. I get to image him in being one who loves, who shows up even when my mentoring is opposed because of my heart intention to see this boy fulfill his potential. But sometimes I think a mentor has to ask themselves the question, what is my cross to bear in this situation, and then what is my joy?
Speaker 2:What what is the thing that I am doing this unto? What is my hope? And not to get that caught up in, you know, developing an expectation that's unrealistic or whatever, but I do think that a mentor that lacks hope is seeking to control. And control has never left me feeling joy. It's only left me more insecure.
Speaker 2:I just I I just put up cameras at my house, and now I'm just like I'm getting notifications about cats. And I'm like, someone's someone's stealing all my stuff, and it's just a cat, like, just walking in front of my house. It's like the what is the thing that you're expecting? And if if you're just trying to seek control, then you're gonna be that's that's gonna own you for the rest of your life. But in in my mentoring, if my expectation is, god, I want you to show up in this kid's life, and I'm gonna do whatever it takes to show up and know that, you know, love is opposed.
Speaker 2:And I'm I'm gonna be strengthened because for the joy set before you, you endured the cross, and I wanna image you in this. And so expect opposition. That that's gonna fuel my mentoring relationship anytime. I'm hitting a wall.
Speaker 1:I was was talking to my kids this morning about the Bible, and we're going through the, you know, good old beatitudes. And they're like, dad, what's a beatitude? I'm like, it means blessed. So today, we talk about those that mourn. And they're like, why does the Bible want us to be sad?
Speaker 1:And I'm like, well, because when you're sad, when you mourn, you're confessing that there's sin in the world, that things are broken, that you need a savior, that, you know, all is not right, and, it reminds you of your need for God. In the same way, like, it's okay to mourn the fact that this kid needs a mentor. Like, yes, all of us need help. I don't think that that's wrong. But for most of our kids, why they need a mentor comes from a from a tough place.
Speaker 1:Either they're, you know, coming out of a, you know, home where they don't have a dad around or there's instability or they're experiencing something that kids shouldn't have to experience. And so it's okay to mourn the fact that there is opposition, and it's okay to be like, man, Lord, like, there's some things going on here that I don't like that aren't easy, but may that remind us of our need for a savior. May that remind us of why this work is so important and who the real savior is because it's not us. It's him. And so love will always face resistance.
Speaker 1:Why? Because we live in a broken world because there is hurt. There is pain. We do have an enemy, and that enemy wants to take out our kids. And he wants to take us out too, and he wants to take out our marriages.
Speaker 1:And and so there will be pushback, but remember your cross. Remember your joy. What are you willing to carry? Who's gonna help you carry that, and what makes it worth it? It's a good word, Murdoch.
Speaker 1:Well alright. So today, we talked about three thoughts about not giving up. Spiritual formation is meant to be slow. Relationships are uncomfortable on purpose, and opposition is to be expected. Any last words?
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, even just your thoughts on the beatitudes is thinking about, you know, for a mentor. None of those things are, like, things to be earned or achieved. Like, no one wants to mourn, but Jesus blesses those who mourn. And he like, no one wants to hunger and thirst for righteousness because it's like, that is a place of need and longing and like, I don't know. Like, he might as well just say, blessed are the mentors because that's what you're doing when you mentor.
Speaker 2:You are taking on hoping against hope that a kid who, for whatever reason, has been dealt a hand of generational consequences that your desire is to enter in and be be the one who blesses maybe what others would say is unblessable. And that's what Jesus does is is his grace is poured out on you, the mentor, as you do that, and you'll see the face of God. I think I think you can take that to the bank.
Speaker 1:Amen. Alright. Thanks a lot for tuning in to the You Mentor Podcast. Remember to share this with your mentoring friends, your team, your volunteers. We love you, and You Can Mentor.
Speaker 2:You can.
Speaker 1:Thanks for tuning in to the You Can Mentor Podcast. Our vision is to raise up and invest in mentoring leaders who will launch and grow thriving mentoring ministries. We do that by equipping and encouraging faith based leaders through relational connection, Christ centered resources, and collaborative gatherings. Check out our books, come to the National Christian Mentoring Gathering, and engage with our network and cohorts. You can find all this at ukmentoring.com or on social media.
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