DCLM Daily Manna Friday 17 May 2024
TOPIC: Who Is Your Mentor?
TEXT: Philippians 4:9-13 (KJV)
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
10 But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity.
11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
KEY VERSE
“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
Philippians 4:9
DCLM Daily Manna Friday 17 May 2024 MESSAGE
The late Warren G. Bennis, an American scholar and authority in leadership studies, had this to say about exemplary leadership: “Excellence is a better teacher than mediocrity. The lessons of the ordinary are everywhere. Truly profound and original insights are to be found only in studying the exemplary”.
Apostle Paul modelled excellence in his leadership and his exemplary lifestyle obviously impacted those he mentored. A case in point is what we read in the text about the Philippian Christians. It was the cradle of a Christian assembly founded by Apostle Paul about two decades after Christ’s death and resurrection. Following Paul’s mentorship, the Philippian congregation, despite their small number and poverty, supported his evangelistic work and sent relief to saints at Jerusalem during a period of famine. They showed commitment to the promotion of the gospel through their selfless giving.
READ DCLM Daily Manna Thursday 16 May 2024 – Knowing and Doing His Will
Christian mentees roundly bred by a Spirit-filled leader should respond admirably to the teachings of their mentor as demonstrated by the Philippian church. The ideal mentoring is to have the learners and their tutor be on the same page from the beginning. Also, the Christian mentor, like Paul, must not fail to “declare all the counsel of God” while the learners must not fail to absorb all that is imparted.
Every Christian, old and young, must seek to receive guidance from mentors the way the Philippians did in the First Century. But we need to follow only those with proven biblical probity. We must weigh them on the scale of scriptural integrity. Above all, we must see Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith, as our ultimate Mentor.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If your spiritual mentor does not mirror Christ, drop the mirror and keep looking unto Jesus.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Samuel 15-17
