Gba ohun èlò náàPaul: A Real MVPÀpẹrẹ
Pep Talk: Encouraging through Mentoring
An individual can only learn so much as a nameless face in the crowd with no opportunity to ask questions, watch what is being taught, demonstrated, or assimilate new thoughts. This being true, one-on-one mentorship is essential to the spiritual growth of all Christians. Understanding this, Paul partnered with other believers from the start, learning from those who were more experienced than he was and allowing those with less experience to watch and learn from him.
Working, yearning, praying, and sacrificing together in pursuit of something with as much potential for world-wide and eternal impact as the Truth of the Gospel sometimes ties people together more tightly than blood relatives. Such was the case for Paul with several individuals, the following among them: Barnabas, the first man to vouch for and want to work with him; Silas, a man with whom he spent time in prison for the Gospel; Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tent-makers and evangelists to Ephesus; and Luke, his constant companion in Rome, a man with a passion for Truth that equaled Paul’s.
Two of the younger men Paul spent time with became like sons to him, Timothy, the young minister to whom two of Paul’s New Testament letters were written, and Titus, the minister for whom the book of Titus is written. To the very end of his life, Paul continued to pour into them everything God poured into him, teaching and living out the Truth of the Gospel for their benefit and encouraging them to do the same for others so God’s Kingdom would continue to advance long after they were gone.
How about you? Are you investing in the next generation of believers, pouring into them what God pours into you, or are you limiting the ministry God’s given you by keeping the lessons you have learned to yourself?
Do newer believers know they can call you when they have questions or need help? Who, specifically? How do you know? Have they ever done it?
What, if anything, needs to change? What would that look like?
Ìwé mímọ́
Nípa Ìpèsè yìí
Paul wasn’t one of the original twelve apostles. Nonetheless, he took Jesus’ Great Commission to heart and spent his entire life making disciples, or students, of everyone he met. He shared the Gospel with them, then taught them how to illustrate that Gospel so it would never be called into question, others would accept it, and God would be glorified. Now it’s our turn!
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