We all need people to guide us. People we can look up to, who will lead us in the right direction. I think that families used to provide this function. Younger women learned from their mothers and grandmothers...how to run a household and be supportive wives. Younger men learned from their fathers and grandfathers. I'm sure this still happens today, but many families are broken by divorce and distance. I know mine is. So where does that leave the younger generation to get their training? Too often we look to peers and the culture around us. But I believe we need to be looking to those who are older and wiser, who have walked where we are walking, and can guide us from experience.Paul writes to Titus about the need for the church to guide future generations. He says "Guide older men into lives of temperance, dignity, and wisdom, into healthy love, faith, and endurance. Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up neither gossips or drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's message because of their behavior. Also, guide young men to live disciplined lives. But mostly, show them all this by doing it yourself." Titus 2:1-7 (Message)
This passage first impresses upon me the need to live my life in a way that will set a good example for those looking up to me. Not to be fake and pretend to have it all together, but to be real with my struggles and show how God can provide and be my strength where I fall short. I need to invest my time in those younger than me, especially young women without anyone else to guide them.
And it is also the desire of my heart to find a mentor. Someone who will push me, encourage me, and speak the truth in love. Someone who will take time out of their busy schedule to invest in me. Don't we all need that? I had a mentor in college who guided me during my "baby steps" as a Christian, but many life changes and distance separates us now. So I'm looking to you, women at New Hope. I'll be watching you. Teach me well.
3 comments:
Lots to think about in this post. - It has been on my mind since the first day you posted and can't seem to get it out of my head. Thanks for the food for thought in so many ways.
Kim
Jeanette, the girls talked about your blog at Bible Study Tuesday, sorry this is the first I have had a chance to look at it. I did a study on the Titus 2 Woman many years ago. To this day it amazes me that many women do not share your same sentiment about it, when I mention that study and what the scripture says, I usually only get a 'ummm' or 'huh'. I pray as I get older in my faith that I may be a mentor to younger women, so they may grow to pass on what God has us to do. I love to read your blog, keep going!!
Wow...I feel honored to have contributed to the Tuesday night bible study :)
Becky: I think there are few mentors out there because no one feels "qualified" enough to be one! I encourage you to be open to opportunities that God puts before you...not to necessarily wait until you grow older in your faith. We're all on a journey and we have to be willing to mentor through our brokenness. Thanks for the encouragement!
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