Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.~ Titus 2:3-5
The word mentoring has taken on a whole new meaning in our modern-day evangelical churches. If we look at the passage in Titus 2 to serve as a guide for what mentoring should entail in a relationship with an older woman and a younger woman, it doesn't seem to be so complicated.
Mentoring doesn't necessarily mean doing a bible study together (it can and it's a good thing but it doesn't have to). The younger women in our lives need discipleship from us in the areas of marriage, family, and home-keeping too. We want to do life together and help spur one another to see, what does it look like to live all of life to the glory of God?
If we look at the passage in Titus 2 to serve as a guide for what mentoring should entail in a relationship with an older woman and a younger woman, it doesn't seem to be so complicated.Is there a younger woman you can mentor? If you have daughters, you already have women in your home to mentor.
Younger women, can you look to an older woman in your church who you admire their walk with the Lord, their family life, and their marriage that you would like to glean from? Have you ever thought to ask her if she would take the time to meet with you and mentor you?
Older women don't be concerned at what this undertaking may mean to you because the time is minimal and the blessings are many. The younger women in our lives need us to pour truth into their hearts and share practical living skills.
10 Simple Ideas to Get You Started:
1. Pray and see who the Lord is leading you to mentor. Seek out a younger woman and if you're a younger woman, seek out an older woman.
2. Determine how often you will meet on a regular basis.
3. Let her live life with you as you go about your normal cooking, cleaning, menu planning, scheduling, caring for your children, and everyday tasks.
4. Let her see how you and your husband interact. What does a Christ-honoring Christian marriage look like lived out on a daily basis amidst the normal daily struggles we have. How do you and your husband handle conflict? What does submission look like?
5. Love on her, laugh with her, and just enjoy being together.
6. Share resources with her that have benefitted your Christian walk.
7. Read a Christian book on biblical womanhood together and chat about it over coffee. There are some great blogs that offer good articles to discuss together too.
8. Take the time to listen to her concerns and questions and continue to point her to Christ.
9. Teach her how to study God's Word for herself.
10. Encourage her to pass on what she is learning to a younger woman in her life.
These are just a few ideas but the hope is to get you thinking of how you can be intentional in mentoring the younger women the Lord has placed in your life.
