You Grow as You Help Others Mature
By Rick Warren

“The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others”  (2 Timothy 2:2 NIV).

If you want the special blessing of God on your life, you need to learn from other believers who are more mature than you, and you need to mentor believers who are younger than you.

Every Christian needs both a Paul and a Timothy. A Paul is somebody who’s been a Christian longer than you and is helping to train and encourage you. That person may only be a month older than you, but he or she knows a little bit more and can mentor you.

To have a Timothy means there is somebody in your life who hasn’t been a Christian as long as you, and you are helping build that person's faith. You are offering your Timothy encouragement and discipleship as he or she grows in the Lord.

So you have a Paul and a Timothy in your life. But you are also a Paul and a Timothy to someone else.

In 2 Timothy, Paul says this to Timothy: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others”  (2 Timothy 2:2 NIV).

There are four generations in that verse. Paul says to Timothy that he helped mentor him, and now Timothy must find somebody to mentor, and then that person can find somebody else to mentor.

Don’t be intimidated by the word “mentoring.” Mentoring is as easy as taking someone to breakfast once a month and asking, “How’s it going?” You just need to be a friend. Listen to, encourage, and pray for that person. You don’t have to be the perfect Christian to do this. You just have to be willing.

When you do that, you will receive a blessing from God in your life that you cannot imagine.

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Talk It Over

  • To whom in your life can you be a Paul?
  • To whom in your life can you be a Timothy?
  • How will you approach these two people this week about a possible mentoring relationship?

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This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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