I totally love it when the Lord places people in my life who have the same burden to invest truth into the next generation as I do. Sara Brunsvold is one of those people. She is an author and is my first guest blogger here at Daily His Disciple! Sara wrote this post on the barriers and blessings of biblical mentorship from a younger woman’s perspective.

I wrote a similar article but from a “big sister’s” point of view, that she will post soon.While we have different writing styles and approaches to the Titus 2 mandate, the desire to obey the Lord and to help other women know, love, and follow Jesus is the same.  We approach the scriptures as sisters in Christ with a passion for truth, and a compassion for women who don’t have it.

Whether you’re an older woman or a younger, I hope that in reading this article you will be both informed and inspired to partake of the blessings that await you as you apply Titus 2:3-5.

~Annie

Guest Post: Barriers and Blessings of Biblical Mentorship: A younger woman’s perspective.  By Sara Brunsvold

“I wish I had someone older to help me figure all this out.”

This was one of several memorable comments I heard from two young ladies when I asked them what it’s like to be a young woman today.

Emerging adults (20’s and early 30’s) have a large range of needs when it comes to navigating today’s world, especially if they try to live in God-honoring ways. Young women receive messages from all sides about who they are and what they should do – and many are not based on biblical truth.

This is not a new phenomenon by any means.

In the first-century Church, the Apostle Paul emphasized the integral role of intergenerational teaching. He told Titus, one of his own mentees, to extol more experienced Christian woman to teach biblical truths and model godly womanhood to younger woman.

The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. (Titus 2:3-5)

This God-breathed design of experienced women coming alongside their younger sisters remains as key now as it was back then.

Young women hunger for this kind of fellowship with their big sisters in Christ. But how do we get there?

The first step is to understand the barriers to fruitful mentoring relationships and to set our sights on the benefits such relationships can bring.

The barriers to biblical mentoring

Here are a few common barriers young women encounter to biblical mentoring:

1) I don’t know how to find an experienced woman to mentor me.

In some situations, the young woman does not yet have the necessary network to find a mentor. Perhaps the young woman does think of someone to approach but doesn’t know what to say if she does.

It’s also common for an experienced woman to feel “unqualified” to mentor and therefore politely turns down the request (I address this fear in this article on my blog-https://sarabrunsvold.com/2018/08/01/lie-women-believe-about-mentoring/).

The greatest tool to overcome this barrier is prayer. A young woman should pray for guidance on whom to ask, the courage to approach and a teachable heart. An experienced woman should pray similarly: for God to bring a young woman to her and for Him to grant her wisdom to mentor.

 2) I am unsure what is expected of me as the mentee.

What is the time commitment? What are the goals? Is anything about my personal life that remains off-limits? What do we talk about? Is this a venting session or something more?

These are among the many questions young women may have as they consider being mentored.

All these questions are best addressed upfront, at the beginning of a mentoring relationship. No two relationships will look alike, so setting expectations – and boundaries – is vital.

3) I fear being judged by my mentor.

Will the experienced woman think less of me if I share my deepest struggles? What if I’m honest about my doubts and fears? Will she think I’m weird, crazy or too far gone?

Every woman in the history of ever can relate to these insecurities.

Younger woman can take comfort in the fact the experienced women likely have similar fears of being judged and rejected.

This will be her focus and the guiding force behind how she receives a young woman’s candor and points her to Jesus.

The blessings from biblical mentoring

Overcoming barriers is so worth it. From a young woman’s perspective, here are a few of the countless blessings biblical mentoring can bring:

1) I gain a much broader perspective than my own.

Life experience speaks with authority to younger women. They love learning from a big sister’s example and personal stories. They treasure the gift of being able to call upon someone who has already navigated emerging adulthood.

2) I am challenged and held accountable toward spiritual growth.

At the core of biblical mentoring is, of course, the Bible. Reading it, knowing it, nourishing from it. A mentor’s role is to teach a young woman how to feed on the Word and to apply it to her daily life.

A natural outflow of this is the mentor also grows spiritually. They, too, are challenged and held accountable.

Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. (Proverbs 27:17)

3) I have a godly model to follow.

The ultimate call on a Christian is to be ever more like Jesus and teach others to do the same (Matthew 28:18-20). This teaching happens through both Bible learning and, importantly, life-on-life interaction.

So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. (1 Thessalonians 2:8)

The model young women learn from their big sisters is the model they will one day show to those coming after them, who will show it to the women who come after them, and so forth. This is exactly what the Apostle Paul was getting at in his instruction to Titus.

Generation over generation, this pattern can be repeated, creating a legacy of disciples that will stretch until Jesus’ return.

What a beautiful thought!

Let me know…

What other barriers and blessings can you think of? How have you overcome barriers? What blessings have you reaped? Share in the comments.

Sara Brunsvold is an author and blogger whose mission is to share stories that speak. She has a heart for mentoring and regularly writes about Titus 2 womanhood on her blog (link: www.sarabrunsvold.com).