You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast

-IPC is a tool to help us understand our mentee (and ourselves)

Identity is WHO WE ARE
Purpose is WHAT WE DO 
Community is HOW WE BLESS AND ARE BLESSED BY OTHERS

King David had a high sense and value for HIS OWN identity, purpose, and community, therefore he was FREE to speak into and bless Mephibosheth’s IPC as well!

-Identity: David sits comfortably on his throne and yells Mephibosheth!
-Purpose: David gives Mephib’s rule over Saul’s kingdom and is not threatened
-Community: David invites Mephib to eat at his family’s table daily because he knows there’s enough food

“Reading” a mentee’s IPC will help you understand if she has a clear understanding of who she is in Christ, if she is living out her call, and if she is surrounding herself with the people who will help her be successful in her journey! This is huge! 

There is ONE GOLDEN RULE when considering our Identity – it is FOREVER! 

Many people confuse PURPOSE for IDENTITY. Try asking someone who they are. Often, they will tell you what they DO. “I’m a banker” “I play football” “I’m an artist” These things are good and often consume the majority of our waking hours. But, they are not our identity. They change over time. They can be taken away.

One thing we love about King David is his being “a man after God’s own heart.” When we understand that our one and only IDENTITY is being a child of God, we realize every other title in life is temporary and pales in comparison to the identity we have in Christ.

Romans 8:15-17 tells us we have “received the Spirit of adoption as sons (and daughters) and that the “Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

This truth should result in a confidence that is palpable. How do we speak into the hearts and bless the lives of our mentors? By knowing we belong to God, who is our loving King and parent, forever! And that truth is not up for debate. It cannot be bought. It cannot be lost or burned up in a fire. 

Our IDENTITY is in Christ and Christ alone! 


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Creators and Guests

Host
Zachary Garza
Founder of Forerunner Mentoring & You Can Mentor // Father to the Fatherless // Author

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.

Speaker 1:

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.

Speaker 2:

Hello. You can mentor listener. This is John B with your mentoring minute. On this episode, we are going to discuss the IPC and more specifically, identity itself. IPC is a tool that helps us understand our mentee and our selves by giving us a framework to understand who they are, what they do, and who they do it with.

Speaker 2:

So identity, that is exactly that. It is who we are. Our purpose is what we do based on who we are. And, finally, our community is how we bless and are blessed others. This is where we exercise our purpose, and, again, going back to reflecting the very idea of our identity.

Speaker 2:

So, King David, he had a high sense and value for his own identity, purpose, and community. Therefore, he was free to speak into and bless Mephibosheth's IPC as well. This story is found in second Samuel chapter 8 and chapter 9. In chapter 8, we get to see king David's IPC. We understand who he was, what his purpose was based on his own identity, and who he spent his time with or how his purpose was fulfilled throughout the context of community.

Speaker 2:

For identity, David sits comfortably on his throne in 2nd Samuel chapter 9, and he is able to yell, in the midst of his court, the name of Mephibosheth when Mephibosheth walks into his room. His purpose is shown when David gives Mephibosheth's rule over Saul's kingdom. And, by the way, he was not threatened by that. Because David had such a high sense of his own identity, because David was living out his purpose on a daily basis when it came time to speak into and to grant Mephibosheth rule over Saul's kingdom. David was in no way threatened.

Speaker 2:

He knew that it wouldn't take away from anything that he had or who he was. And finally, community. David invites Mephibosheth to eat as a at his family's table because he knows that there's enough food. He knows that there's margin of time. He knows that he can give Mephibosheth that attention.

Speaker 2:

And if he's going to give him the purpose of leading over the land, then he should also be able to mentor him well on a daily basis and allow Mephibosheth to watch how David operates as a king, as a husband, as a father. So then reading a mentee's IPC helps us understand if she or he has a clear understanding of who they are in Christ, if she is living out her call, or and if she is surrounding herself with people who will help her be successful in that journey. This concept is a very substantial one. So there is one golden rule when considering our identity, and that is this, identity is forever. Many people confuse purpose for identity.

Speaker 2:

Just try asking someone who they are. Often, they will tell you what they do. They might say, I'm a banker, or I play football, or I'm an artist. These things are good, and they often consume a majority of our waking hours. However, these things are not our identity.

Speaker 2:

They change over time. Right? They can be taken away. You can lose a job. You can injure yourself and no longer be an athlete.

Speaker 2:

Right? So, again, remember that oftentimes people will confuse identity and purpose. One thing that we love about King David is his being a man after God's own heart. If you've read scripture, I'm sure you've seen that that moniker, that title that David got to wear. Now when we understand that our one and only identity is being a child of god, we realize that every other title in life is merely temporary, and it pales in comparison to the identity that we have as a son or a daughter that we have in Christ.

Speaker 2:

So Romans 815 through 7 tells us that we have we have actually received the spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, and that the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. Just let that sit in for a moment. Just let that sink in as you think about and consider that wonderful place that we have in the family of god, and that this is what you get to offer as a mentor, understanding that you're in a place that you identify yourself in the family of God, and you want to welcome others in so that your mentee would feel welcomed if they do not know the Lord yet. This truth, it should result in a confidence that is palpable. How do we speak into the hearts and bless the lives of our mentors and mentees by knowing that we belong to God, who is our loving king and parent forever?

Speaker 2:

And that truth is not up for debate. It cannot be bought, and it cannot be lost. It cannot be burned in a fire. Our identity is in Christ and Christ alone. And when we lead out of that, when we live out of that, that truth, then it's a game changer.

Speaker 2:

So know who you are because when you do, you'll then be able to speak into the identity of your mentee. And that is our mentoring minute. Remember mentors? You can mentor.

Speaker 1:

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. 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.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. And remember, you can mentor.