Read Titus 2:1-10

I am called to not only mentor others, but be mentored myself!

Why do we skip this part of scripture? We mean to learn from others; we NEED to learn from others. In a letter to Titus, Paul systematically lays out a plan on who and what we should be listening to (and incidentally, what we should be saying and who we should say it to.)

Men, it says, must be worthy of respect. Whoa! Ouch. Them's big shoes, especially in a day where respect is no longer automatically given. We seem to be a guilty-until-proven-respect-worthy-generation.
Older women (I won't give an age, you can just know who you are) are called to be reverent in the way they live and teach what is good.

reverent: submissive, humble, respectful.

And Paul doesn't mention a time clock or schedule, so I am guessing he wants us to be this way regularly. Constantly. So much pressure!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor during WWII. Read about him; you won't regret it. At one point, he said, " I fear that Christians who stand with only one leg upon earth, also stand with only one leg in heaven."

What he is saying is obvious, but what he meant is we can't be in the world, but not of the world no matter how catchy a phrase we come up with. He meant, "We are the world" just like Michael Jackson said we are. He meant Jesus did not live this way. He meant Jesus came to be Jesus-down and dirty and living in the world no matter what issues his company had; no matter what those sharped dressed guys over there had to say about it; no matter if he was going to die because the Pharisees couldn't stand to go one more minute without irrationally judging someone.

Here's the rub: Jesus wasn't influenced by these people. He didn't need to be. He had a mentor.

paraphrasing here: I only go where the father instructs me.

Jesus had a trustworthy mentor to teach him to be worthy of respect, self-controlled, reverent, pure, kind, subject to his leaders, full of integrity, honest, and fully trusted.
God has given us all the type of people we need to connect with and model ourselves after as they model themselves after Christ. (Who, remember we talked about this, modeled himself after God.)
It's an excellent system. We each have a calling to be a part of it.

So, this week, our first week, spend some time praying for God to reveal the feedback you are receiving in your life. Do you have a mentor, someone you go to who leads you to Christ when you have struggles or triumphs? Has God placed people around you (probably younger) that you are setting an example for? Is it a good one? All of this is your fruit. Good or bad, you have to decide, but it is in fact the fruit you are producing. If you are being mentored, that wisdom contributes to the fruit you eventually produce. It's all part of a circle, a cycle, a ripple in a pond, the trickle down effect- you fill in your own analogy. But, pray about it. Feedback welcomed.

This week we are beginning the bible study Joy for any of you following along. I will post something about it tomorrow, but tomorrow is day one. If you have not picked up a book yet, try Barnes and Noble or that link over there to the right. See me pointing? Click on the picture of the book.