Welcome to the lion within us, a podcast, serving Christian men who are hungry to be the leaders they’re predestined to be. I’m your host, Chris Grainger. Let’s jump in. All right, guys. It’s great to have you here for a big meat episode and I am so excited. So this is gonna be a solo episode. So sorry to disappointed.

So of you guys wanted a guest, you know, we have phenomenal guests weekend, week out. I get it. I get it having me. Maybe not, maybe isn’t quite much is fun, but, but hopefully you’re gonna get some value out of this. This week, we’re gonna be talking about mentorship cause they are the gateway to meaningful connections, seriously, meaningful connections.

And I’m gonna give you a lot of things to think about as you, as you go on your walk on how you could be a mentor, what does that look like? How can you grow that? Okay. Now we’re gonna start every episode of the line within us. We’re gonna start with scripture. Okay. Now first, Peter. One through three, we had this on our spiritual kickoff.

If you missed it, go back and check it out. This scripture says this. Therefore I urge, I urge elders among you as your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and one who is also a fellow partaker of the glory that has to be revealed, shepherded the flock of God among you exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God.

And not with greed, but with eagerness, nor yet as domineering over those assigned to your care. But by proving to be examples to the flock, tons of insight right here in this scripture guys, tons of insight. So. Again, go back, check that after you missed it. So let’s start off with understanding what is mentorship and you know me, I’d like to do to OGT G go to Google.

Let’s see what Google’s gotta say. So Google says mentorship is the guidance provided by a mentor, especially an experienced person in company or educational institution. Okay. So a lot of words there, but basically there’s someone who knows something that you don’t, they’re usually a little bit older, but they can provide you guidance and direction.

Okay. So I’m gonna give you some stories around some, some different things that, that we’re gonna be looking at today. Cuz I’m gonna break down three areas, three ways that you can really make a strong, strong group and be the mentor that you need. Guess what guys, you need mentors in your life, but you also have an opportunity to be mentors to others.

Okay. But to do all that, you really need to think about the group of guys that you’re around. And if you think about guys right now, there’s so many of us that are struggling with connection. You know, you have the internet out there. We have people doing remote work since COVID remote, work’s going up and it’s taken its toll on masculinity.

And now more, never. We need brothers around us to help us grow in our Christian walk and the Bible. You guys hear me talk about it all the time, the iron, that sharpens iron, you know, right outta proverb, 27 17. But I need you to think about this. Are you strong enough to sharpen someone else? Okay. That’s where it really starts, you know, being the rubber meets the road.

Cause depending on where you’re at in your. Impacts how you answer this question guys. That’s that is the reality of it, of it. So again, we’re gonna look at three ways to build that strong group. Cause you want you to be a strong group of guys around you and also be a mentor to others along the way. And guys, you have this in you, you, you can do this and I know you may be thinking, Chris, I don’t know how to do it.

I’ll tell you what guys. Just, just hang in there and we’re gonna get through this together. I’m gonna give you the first step. All right. Now, are you ready? Find your Paul that’s right. I said it find your Paul now, what am I talking about here? You know, the Paul from the Bible. Okay. And, and this is gonna be the hardest one.

You know, I was thinking about this when I was praying through it. And when I was talking to my wife, finding Pauls are hard. They’re like unicorns. Okay. I mean, it really can be difficult. And oftentimes your guys are gonna find just like with me, the paws out there find. And, and when they find you, you just accept that as a blessing to from the Lord and then you learn from them.

But think about from a business standpoint, it’s the guys that are where you want to go. Now they’ve accomplished what you hope to accomplish. They’ve already done it. You know, I’ve had a mentor, my engineering job, uh, for 20 plus years. I mean, he’s been great and it’s the real raw truth. He’s given me over the years, that keeps me coming back to him for wisdom and insight.

You know, if I was just getting a bunch of fluff, uh, uh, or just, just, you know, at arm’s length, length answers, or, you know, when, when guys aren’t giving it to you, you know, completely truthful, I wouldn’t be going back to him for insight and guidance. Wouldn’t be happening now. I would’ve moved on, but I tell you what, because he has spoken so much truth to me in my life.

He has a special place in my heart and I trust him. Okay. Now for me now, it’s, it’s transitioning a lot too, as I’m doing more podcasting, things like that. Entrepreneurship masterminds, I’m looking at groups like this online business owners, cuz I’m trying to learn from them because guess what? There’s where we’re trying to go with the.

So it’s changed. I mean, the pauses that I’m looking for, yes. I still have the Paul at, at my engineering job, but there’s different pauses that I’m seeking out right now. Okay. That I’m trying to really help me grow personally. And when you think about the, the apostle Paul, he had many life experiences that led him right.

To being that great leader in, in that great apostle who wrote so much in a new Testa. I mean, he was, he was, he’d been honored a fire, right. He really had been through it. And he was given the ability to, to give instruction spiritually because of the different areas that he grew from personally. Just think about the stuff that, you know, the stuff that you’ve been through, those are the things that other men potentially could learn from.

Right. So when you start thinking about DEPA being from a mentorship standpoint or part of your men’s. Look for those that have walked your own path and have some experiences to share. Okay. They should be pretty active guys. I mean, very active in like ministry. You should really see that and they should show the fruit of the spirit in their walk.

Now I brought this up in a Bible study very recently that I was doing with some guys and I brought up the fruit of spirit outta Galatians 5 22. So what is the fruit? Let’s just cover that real quick. Love. Joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. Self-control. So those are the fruit that you should be looking to see in other men.

And if you’re not seeing it, you know, that could be an indicator that, you know what, maybe this isn’t a good candidate for appall right. And you need to really be seeing this be looking for how do they serve others? Uh, what type of marriage do they have? This think about professionally from a professional standpoint, are they successful?

Because if they are, and they have all these different areas and you’re seeing this fruit that’s indicators that you may be owned to appall right there. Okay. And to be, uh, to learn from appall, you need to be willing. And understand that you have something to learn. Okay. So you just need to keep that in mind.

So many times, guys, we feel like we know it all. And like, we don’t want to take the time to listen to others. You need to be willing to learn. Now, when you think about actually who the Paul could be, there may be older. I’m usually one and a half, two times older, but they’re not, they’re not usually gonna be someone younger than you.

Okay. Again, this is not a hard set rules. Don’t do you know, all Chris said they had to be two times older. You can’t be, but no, it’s not, but you’re looking for experience and there’s no shortcuts to experience it just isn’t, you can’t, you know, you know, ease your way and just, and sneak your way through life and, and, and be this wise person it’s not there.

And the Bible also says with gray hair comes wisdom. Remember me, I keep my hair kinda short here guys, but when it does grow out, there’s some little gray there. So I I’m proud of those gray hairs. I think all my, my daughters put them there, uh, not my lovely wife, but my daughters definitely put them there.

And, and, and there’s something to come with that too. Right. So again though, don’t take all this stuff too, too. Too, too hard, because if they don’t have gray hair, that doesn’t mean you can just rule them out. There may be some really good pauses out there who don’t have gray hair. So I’m just trying to speak to the experience level.

That’s what you’re looking for. The experience level. That’s gonna help you on your wall and they’re gonna be able to provide you that wise counsel. So cuz you guys gotta think about it. There’s too many life lessons that cannot just be learned by a book or reading about it. How do you. You learn about walking through this stuff and going through the trials and going through the, the fire.

And when you get that purification, you get burned and you get, okay, I got this scar, I got this scar, I got this scar. You know what, because I got all these scars, I can probably help somebody. Right. So, I mean, that’s what it comes to and it’s just, you, you can’t just have theory. You have to have practical hands on the ground experience.

So, where do you find the pauses at? You need to UN be thinking about that this could be something that you seek out to really initiate on your own, or it could be something that God just drops in your lap. I mean, really guys. May be unexpectedly. So if you’re seeking it out, where can you look? Well, you can look at your church.

Obviously. That’s a great place to look. Pastors, deacons, elders, maybe Sunday school teachers or small group leaders, people like that. They may be in your family. There could be Pauls in your family. So, you know, some men are blessed to have spiritual leaders and their earthly father, and they can serve as their Paul as they walk through life.

And then something to consider is your career. When you think through where you’re working at, I mean, we’re at work a lot, you know, this could, this, you may have appall opportunity there. Now this could be harder to identify. Okay. But the same criteria should apply. So just think about your guys that you work with and the, the older generation who, who who’s there, who knows how stuff gets done.

You know, the guys who they, they just, when something goes down, you know, they’re gonna have the answer. Do you see fruit in their walk? Do you see the fruit of spirit? Cause if you do, there may be an opportunity to engage with them. Okay. And, and I tell you what guys just think about your career and your, and, and when you’re at work, uh, do people see your fruit?

And I’m gonna tell you a story here. That is not fun for me to tell, but I was in a meeting, probably it was 20, 21. And it was with a vendor that, that we do business with. And on my screen, on my computer, it says, God does not call to qualify. He qualifies the call because I’ll tell you what, I’m not very qualified guys, as you can tell, but Hey, you’re still listening to the line within us.

So I got you right. Just kidding. But anyway, this guy saw this on my computer screen and he’s like, Chris. Oh, you’re Christian. Cool. I am too. Now guys. I have been in meetings with this man probably three years. And he just identified that I was a Christian based off a screensaver. That’s a flag, you know who that’s a flag for me.

I was like, oh, my gracious in this gentleman’s name is Louis. I was like, oh, Louis. I, I, I feel is terrible right now that it took a screensaver for you to see the fruit of the spirit and me. And he actually felt the same way. He’s like, well, you didn’t know I was a Christian either. So, I mean, we had a little laugh about it, but at, at the same time, Do people at your work know that you’re a believer?

Well, are you ashamed? Do you hide it? You know, Tuesday, o’clock Tuesday at 10 o’clock in the morning. You got your coffee. You’re at the office. Maybe you’re in the job site, wherever you’re at. Are they seeing the fruit of spirit? It’s easy to show the fruit to spirit. Sunday morning. That’s easy to do.

You’re in God’s house. If you go to church. Two years to 10 o’clock in the morning. A little bit harder to think about that. Think about that. And now if you’re looking for a poll, I’m gonna give you one little caveat that I want you to, to be careful of here. Okay. If it’s a supervisor. So if this is direct supervisor, be careful, cause that could create some dynamics and, and in a relationship, it could be tricky to navigate.

And again, just to, just to make sure we’re, we’re careful. We don’t want any direct reports, no direct reports. So if you have a direct report and maybe they’re older than you and their wi, but, but they’re still your direct report. Eh, I was steer clear of that. Okay. And then one area to consider could be spiritual mentors that you haven’t met in person.

And guys, this has been impactful for me. And I really wanna spend a minute here and just kind of tell you guys about this. We live in a connected world, right? There are a lot of pauses quote. We could access via videos, podcasts, websites, and other resources. And, and there are two resources in my life that, that I feel have helped me grow tremendously in my Christian walk.

And, and I’m just gonna tell you guys what they are, and they’ll be linked up into show notes. The first one is, uh, a podcast called unashamed it’s. The unashamed podcast is put out every week. They’ve dropped three episodes it’s been is done by Al Jason, Phil Robertson, the, the duck dynasty guys. I’m gonna tell you what each week, each episode they’re going through practical, biblical teaching, and they’re finding ways to connect what God’s word says to, to, to areas of life.

And it’s just been such a blessing for me just to listener those guys, sit and talk and walk through the Bible on different scriptures and understand how this, what this means to them. And they’ll have good debates. They step all over top of each other. That’s what makes the show great. And, and, you know, they’ll cut each other all, but at the end of the day, it’s all done in love and they’re growing.

They’re just, they’re constantly growing, but they had the patriarch or the family feel. And then you have, uh, Mr. Al and Jace, and they’re, they’re constantly just back and. With iron sharpening iron insight. So guys, uh, Paul could be a podcast like that. Where do you learn from, I’ll tell you that another Paul that I learned from, and I’ll tell you what he’s been on the show, pastor Jovie, Martin.

Now I’ve met pastor Jovie. You know, we’ve had to, we’ve blessed opportunity to actually sit and interview him. Talk with him. I’ve actually had the opportunity to interview other pastors there at the church of 1122. They’ll be coming out here soon on the line within. I’m gonna tell you what pastor Jovie.

He is appalled to me, their, their podcast at church of 11, 2 20 11, 22 podcasts. Every week, his sermons come out, I’ve gone back now. I’m in 2019, or maybe I’m getting close to 2018 and the, and the sermon history, because I just can’t get enough guys. I may listen to three or four of his sermons a week and I.

For me, there’s no better way to grow than to be in God’s word. And to be listening, to have that, have that poured in you, you know, I do a lot of times when I’m driving or just working out, whatever it may be, but his sermons connect with me now they connect with me, but they may not connect with you, but find something that resonates that you feel good about that you think, uh, The way you speak.

And that’s why I think I like pastor Jovi so much. He’s from South Carolina, I’m from Virginia, basically North Carolina. Uh, for, for most of my life, we just speak the same language and the, the stories he tells and the way he teaches it hits me in the heart. So guys there again, think about resources outside of your church, outside of people, you know, there could be some pauses quote, unquote that you learn from.

Like this, cuz I’m telling you, uh, my, my actual engagement with the, with, with the Robertsons is zero. But with pastor jobby is very minimal, but their impact on me and my walk. Tremendous, tremendous. So guys, that’s your step one. Find your Paul it’s so important guys. And I’ll tell you what, this is the hard one.

I I’ve already mentioned that one time, but don’t get frustrated, stay committed to it, but this is a tough. But you’ll find it. I promise you, you just gotta, you got to actually put in the word, pray over it, consistent, pray over it. And you’re gonna be surprised that the pauses that God drops in your life.

All right, guys, wanna take a quick break

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Alright, now step two. Find your Barnabas. Okay. Your Barnabas. So what are we, what am I referring to here? I’m referring to Barnabas in the Bible, uh, and the new Testa. And it actually means son of encouragement. Okay. And that’s a good indicator of what you should be looking for in this man. You know, Barnabas was often accompanying Paul and simply just doing life together.

Right. He was an advocate for him, just a true friend, true friend that stood up for Paul, even when others opposed him. Right. So for me, I have a couple, I have a couple Barnes. You know, they really, they they’re in my life. And they’re part of a small DEC uh, couple discipleship groups that I have going. One is me and my brother, Adam, he’s been on our show here and another brother, Andrew, who’s been on our show.

We get together usually twice a month, we break bread, we study God’s word. We just do life together. We know we can text each other. And, and that we’re actually going to get a response back. We actually care about each. Then I have another discipleship group and we started that with, with three other guys.

So it’s four of us total. We get together on Saturday mornings, but they’re my peers. They’re my guys. They’re my, my boys that we can do life together. And I know that I can send them a text message and I’m gonna get an answer. I know if I call them, they’re gonna pick up the phone. They’re actually gonna care and they have a hunger for God’s word.

And guys, we have to be intentional about getting together. But I’m gonna tell you what for iron or sharpen iron. The Barnabas is a, that’s what you’re looking for. That’s really it. And, and they’re rare attributes that we find in guys. They really are rare, but when you do, it’s gonna bring a whole new level, a whole new level.

Now you’ll find ways to be a, a mentor. To your Barnabus. Okay. Cause think about it. You guys are constantly feeding off each other, the iron sharpens iron. So there’s a way right there that you can, that you can mentor others as part as, as part of your group. When you think about who the Barnabas are in your life, and as you thinking well, searching for the Barnabus, where do you find ’em?

You know, or how old are they typically? These guys are gonna be close to the same age as. Okay. They may be a little older or a little younger, or they may be a lot older. I’m not saying this is a hard set rules. Again, these are not hard set rules, but these usually just ideas. But, uh, if you’re doing life together, most of the time, the people you’re doing life with on a regular basis are usually in the same, uh, demographics.

Right? It’s just, it just, it’s kind of natural. It’s just natural opportunities to build relationships. And you’re gonna have your you’ll find all oftentimes with the, with this relationship. The family calendars line up a lot, you know, you have kids doing similar things together, or you have, you know, you’re just, you’re kind of in that place in life to where you just do life together.

Right. And, and you’ll have more interaction because of that. Right. And that, and that consistent interaction that is that’s where it’s at. It’s so this relationship is gonna be a lot more consistent than the polls, right? Just that’s just gonna happen. One thing that’s really important that I cannot emphasize enough here for you guys.

The Barnabas is not a yes, man. We’ll say it one more time. Barnabas is not a yes, man. Encouragement is great, but we don’t need a yes for yes sakes. We have two, many soft guys out there who are not willing to speak truth. And I’m gonna tell you what, when you look around and it is not hard to see so many guys out here, they’re just scared.

They’re scared to speak actual truth. They’re, they’re scared to stand up for, to gospel Jesus Christ, much less tell you if you’re doing something wrong, you know, and if you’re trying to strive to be a strong Christian man and be a mentor to others, you’re gonna need others to help you in that walk. And you’re gonna need others that can check your butt and tell you absolute truth, challenges, your, that challenges, your thinking, right?

If you never feel. Comfortable enough to speak truth or you never see them question, you know, the status quo that may be a flag for you. I’ll give you a quick example here. At the, when we started a podcast, I had an opportunity to meet, I’d say this, this gentleman is an influencer. Okay. You got, if I said his name all, you know it.

Okay. So pretty high up and lot, lot a big platform. Has a big opportunity to, to influence a lot of people. And he was interested in coming on the show and AB and I, we went back and forth, back and forth. And finally we just, we prayed over together. He told me his heart where his heart was and I had a peace and I had a peace still, you know what?

This is just not good timing. Timing’s not right for this. Uh, because my motives were wrong. Yeah. I was more concerned about. The name could do to amplify the line within us versus what does God want. And he was able to pull me back and say, Chris, let’s really pray over this. Now he did it outta love, but it was also firm.

And I appreciate that he was able to really speak true to me and we made good decision because of that. And I don’t regret that decision decision one bit, but it’s because I had a brother like that in my life willing. Speak truth. There’s so much value in that guys. So much value. Now, where do you find these guys at?

Just like your Pauls? You know, you may find ’em in church, family of work, things like that, but the pool of Canada does get bigger. Okay. Because you have, so you have a lot more in the, in the demographics to actually work with. Right. It’s encouraging. While that is encouraging. I get it. Just make sure that those rose color glasses are, are, you know, put those into case.

You know, we don’t want surface level relationships. We get that, you know, the guys that, you know, Hey, how you doing? I’m I’m blessed and highly favored. We ain’t looking for that. We wanna look for the guys that’s going actually tell you, they’re gonna allow you into their life. So that can be tough. You know, they’re gonna have to be vulner.

They’re gonna have to be willing to, to, to, to be truthful. And so many guys struggle with this struggle, but to, for, for them to be willing to share, guess what you have to be willing to share too. You have to be willing to be vulnerable. You have to be willing to open up and speak honest truth to others.

You know what? And not every guy’s gonna be receptive of this. You need be ready for this two fellas. Not everybody’s gonna be receptive to it, but you’re gonna find it when, when you do find that guy, it’s an amazing opportunity to grow and to be stronger, you know, for them to mentor you for you to mentor them just to, but option ultimately just to do life together.

So there you go. Step number two, you gotta find a Barnabus. So number one, get you that. Paul. Number two, get you a Barnabus. Hey, we’ll take a quick.

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So the last step, can you guess where it is guys need to find Timothy that’s right. Because once we had that, that Paul to learn from that barn, us to do life with, we need that Timothy so we can pass along their knowledge. Right? The relationship. If you think about what Paul, the relationship that he had with Timothy, if you go back and you look in the Bible, it was often looked at as like a mentor or father’ son type dynamic.

Okay. Now, why is this important? Why do we want. Because we don’t have enough strong Christian men stepping up to help that future generation realize what it takes to be a godly man. We don’t have enough of that guys. I mean, that is really, really, uh, a problem. And, uh, there are opportunities all around us for Timothy’s all around us.

We just gotta look. I’m gonna give you two stories right here on how I, how this actually impacts me in my life. Two of them you’ve actually seen on the show, go back early in the, in the line with Dennis. I interviewed Dylan. Good and Ethan. Good. And these guys love him to death. Love him to death. Great young men.

They have a passion for the Lord and they gave me the opportunity to speak into their life and to be a mentor to them. You know, we work out together. We go running, we shoot hoops. We’ll sometimes we’ll lift weights. Oftentimes we just find ourselves talking like, we’ll try to go do these things, but next, next thing, you know, we just end up talking, but we’re intentionally spending time together.

I text, I check on, I ask how they’re doing. I was, I was given the honor to actually present Bibles to. At a service at, at our church when they graduated high school and they chose me to, to give them their, their, their Bibles. And I was able to speak some truth into ’em in that setting, but I didn’t get to be there in that setting without all the time, put in on the front hand, on the front side, on the, on the back side, building up to that because we have an actual relationship.

I actually care about these guys. I love them. I, I love, uh, that they’re I treat ’em like, they’re my sons. And then oftentimes like they’re, they’re my buddies and guys that takes intentional acts super intentional. So those, those, that’s an example of finding a Timothy. So these, these guys are, you know, 18, 19 years old, but then you can go back even further.

I have another Timothy example. So young man, I’m not gonna tell his name out here on, on the podcast, but I, I mentor a young man, been doing it for about a year now on a consistent basis once a. I make it a very intentional act to spend a day with him. Usually it’s a Saturday and we do stuff. We’ll go fishing.

We’ll play baseball. We’ll go to the pool. We’ll we’ll go kayaking. I think we’ve done. We’ve done kayaking. Uh, we’re here recently. I’ve I’m teaching him how to change oil things that men need to know. Now, this young man, his, his father actually had passed away. He lives with his grandmother. So he doesn’t really have a lot of men in his life.

So it was a natural, I just, I naturally was just drawn to him to be able to, to try to help serve him. But ultimately I just wanna spend time with him. And then we get in God’s word and we, we, I show him what it’s like to be a follower, to what it’s like to be a believer of Jesus. And we had our church camp this year, his, his, his, uh, brother came younger brother and he actually accepted Christ.

I was able to pray to, to pray the prayer salvation with his, with his younger brother. And I just thought he was just gonna tear up right there. It was just a beautiful moment, you know, and those moments are only possible because we make it a priority to spend the time with him. But guys, I’m not trying to paint this picture to that.

I’m just perfect. Saint got all this stuff figured out. No, I’m not trying to paint that. What I am trying to tell you guys is that it takes intentional acts. Put yourself in a situation to be able to help others now, is it always easy for me to spend time with him? No. Is it always easy for me to spend time with Dylan and Ethan?

No. Is it important? Yes. And what gets prioritized gets done? So guys put it on the calendar. There is an epidemic out there right now of fatherlessness. That’s not the case with Dylan and Ethan. They have a great father, so that’s not the case there, but look, there is an epidemic out there. Seriously.

There’s guys, there’s young men out there who need insight, wisdom from lions. Like you, it’s gonna take intentional acts by you though to connect with these guys and to be able to serve them. There’s some ways you could do this organically, you know, start. Start coaching in some rec leagues. Find the time be the volunteer, get out with these guys, cuz that’s a great opportunity to, to grow your ministry.

Even if it’s a secular league, I coach in secular leagues all the time and you know what? It’s a great opportunity to simply show the fruit or the spirit, even if you can’t pray with the team or, or do things from a, from a Christian standpoint because it’s not a Christian league. You can still show the fruit in everything you do in everything you do.

And I tell you what it’s gonna make an impact. I have personally seen it time and time again. We had a player on our softball team this past year. She really wasn’t that interested in playing with us. And I told the coach, we’re just gonna show the fruit. We’re gonna show the fruit. I was the assistant coach.

He, he was the head coach that showed the fruit every time end of the season. Her and her mom were crying because the season was over because they had so much fun playing with our team. Hey guys, you can call that what you want, but I call it a spirit thing. We showed the fruit of spirit. We showed love all the time, patience, goodness, gentleness, and all that.

Every game we never got loud. We never yelled. We would get animated, but it was always done in a Christ-like behavior. That changed their heart. It really changed their heart. So, you know, you need to re really be thinking about when you’re looking through these, Timmies trying to find ways to connect with them.

Maybe it’s at your local church. I can tell you right now, there are many youth and children departments at churches that are lacking strong men. Step up guys, get in and volunteer, go in there and teach ’em. So. Be part of a, of a, of a mission project, just show ’em what it’s like to be a strong Christian man show.

’em what it’s like to, to have a relationship with your wife, let them see a, a good Christian marriage. They need to see that. And it needs to be someone you can connect with behind that connection point. You know, Timothy’s usually, again, we’re talking about this here from a mentorship standpoint, they’re younger, but these bonds can last a lifetime.

I pray. I’ll be buddies with Dylan and Ethan and my, and my other mentor, uh, for forever, forever. So a couple tips to keep in mind as you build that re relationship with these Timothys, first of all, find out what they enjoy connect with them, doing stuff they enjoy doing. Okay. Cause you gotta meet ’em where they’re.

And gotta remember this, you know, a man is not as far along as the walk, as you presents a huge opportunity for you to influence them in a godly way. So, you know, guys don’t wanna be preached to, but they can be encouraged and, and, and shepherded, and that will help a ton. Okay. On. Okay. And if you find yourself, okay guys out there, uh, never giving a chance for organic conversation to.

Your, your relationship’s gonna struggle if you’re constantly trying to force stuff, is what I’m trying to say. Your relationship is gonna struggle. Okay. So one thing to think about as a tip guys, connect shoulder to shoulder, doing stuff. So don’t always think there has to be, we’re gonna sit down, we’re gonna read a book of Matthew and we’re gonna study this well there’s value in that.

Don’t get me wrong. Look, Hey, maybe you need to get outside. Throw the ball. Go for a run, go for a walk, listen, waits, do something to get the blood flowing. That’s going to open up the opportunity for connection. You know, one of the first runs Dylan underneath and I, we all did together. You know, we, we did a, a, like a 5k, I believe, got back to where we, you know, where we started for when the, when the run was over.

Everybody’s gased, everybody’s tired. Everybody’s sweating, pulled the Bible out. We had a really good time. Of just fellowship and studying his word, nothing formal, but just that, that, that, that opportunity to be a man and to, you know, to do things like that together, there is value in that guys. True.

That’s where the bonds grow. Okay. And again, once you burn some of that energy y’all particularly if you’re, if you’re dealing with these younger ties, that’s gonna help you connect with them. Right. So you guys, I can already hear you. Some of you guys are probably already making excuses on why you can’t do it.

You know, I don’t, I don’t have enough, uh, uh, time or I’m not qualified enough. This is the one I wanna make sure I, I can get outta your guys’ mind right now. Do not think you have to be this, uh, theologian when it comes to the Bible to be able to mentor a Timothy, you Don. You don’t God does not call to qualify.

He qualifies to call wherever you are, wherever you are in your walk. You are ready. You are ready. You need to start saying that to yourself right now. You just need to be one step ahead. One step ahead of someone and you can pull ’em along. That’s it don’t think you have to have all this knowledge down and, and, and be a deep, you know, understanding a theology.

To have these relationships, you know, they care about your heart, your heart. If your heart is in the right place and you are guide being guided by the spirit, the spirit is gonna give you the wisdom and insight to serve these men. People know when people truly care they do. And this is where the Bond’s going to grow.

So go ahead and get those insecurities. Kick up to the side. Look the excuses to fears, all that stuff. Look, get it outta here. You gotta pray against him. Cause I’m gonna tell you what Satan does not want you to find Timmsy as he wants the Timmies out there to struggle, to give up, turn away from God and to, and to just go back, doing the ways of the world.

God be super intentional here, guys. You cannot be lazy. You cannot be lazy. So guys I, there you have. Three ways to strengthen that group and to be a mentor that we desperately need right now. But the work don’t stop here. You gotta keep growing. You gotta keep evolving and over time, stay committed to this.

Find your Paul, find your barbers, find your Timothy, cuz that’s gonna make your lines den your groups of people that you’re mentoring and being mentored from even strong. Those individuals as you work through, ’em, they’re gonna challenge you in different ways. That’s gonna help you in your walk. So, one thing you need to think about too is finding that Paul Barnas and Timothy, can you be a Paul to someone?

And if you can, are you actively pursuing that? Okay. Again, Paul’s a hard to. But you’ve done a lot of life and you’ve come a long way in your Christian journey and you’re not mentoring someone, right. That’s probably an opportunity for you to step up right now, right now. So I want you guys to take out a piece of paper, wherever you’re at list out two men that would fit in each category.

Two guys, you got ’em two Pauls, two Barnes, two. Timothys now get to. Get to work, get out there, stay committed to it. Get in God’s word, ask him for his guidance. He will show you. We need brothers out there helping each other grow in Christ. And I’m gonna tell you what guys, you will be a better leader. If you take this seriously and actually lean into this and don’t shy away, men.

Need men helping them grow in Christ. And my prayer through this, this, this whole podcast right here today is that you leave with these three ideas, these three simple ideas of how to improve your personal lion stand and to be the mentor, your predestined to be, you know, we, every week we have a question of a week, right this week, who are those wise mentors that are speaking into your life?

Do you have ’em if not, you know what you need to do, find your Paul, find your Barnabas, find your Timothy. Now guys, I hope you enjoyed this one. There’s actually, if you go to our website, uh, the line with end dots, there’s a blog out there on this. It has some notes. So you may be able to find some value in that.

We’ll make sure we try to sync that up into show notes here for you guys. That should give us a rating and review. You know, that stuff helps us guys big time where it cannot emphasize enough. If you’re on apple right now, please click on over, give a five star rating, write a review. It makes a big difference in the algorithm.

I don’t know how that stuff works. I just know it makes a difference guys, uh, connect with us on Facebook, which you can go check out the Bible study course. So we have the online course. Now it’s five and a half hours. Guys. You’ll love that. There’s 10 scriptures. You need to know to fight like a. That’s out there too.

Again, the habits guy that we just, that, that I think would really serve you guys well, uh, in your journey too, because we gotta have good habits. So guys there, you have it three ways to be that strong mentor. What to look for to Paul, to Barnas to Timothy. I pray this, this served you well, this today, this week.

Thank you. I know there’s so many other podcasts you could be listening to. You took the time to listen to the line within us means the world to us guys. So hope you have a great day. Hope you have a great week. See you back on Friday for our fun Fridays. Now get out and unleash the lion within.