Jesus was the perfect mentor. He told His disciples, ‘He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also.’ If you want to reach the fullness of your God-given potential, ask God for the right mentors. You will always go further with a good mentor coaching and pushing you. Some mentors are given for a short season, others for a lifetime, so you must know the difference. How do you recognise a mentor? In eight ways. The credo of the true mentor is this:

(1) I am willing to spend the time it takes to build a close relationship with the learner;

(2) I commit myself to believing in the potential of the learner, to telling them the exciting future I see ahead for him or her; to visualising and verbalising the possibilities for their life;

(3) I am willing to be vulnerable and transparent before the learner, I’m willing to share not only my strengths and successes, but also my weaknesses, failures, brokenness, and sins;

(4) I am willing to be honest yet affirming in confronting the learner to re-examine their unproductive habits, the learner’s errors, faults, and areas of immaturity;

(5) I am committed to standing by the learner through trials of any kind;

(6) I am committed to helping the learner set goals for his or her spiritual life, career, or ministry, and to help the learner activate his or her dream;

(7) I am willing to objectively evaluate the learner’s progress toward his or her goal;

(8) Above all, I am committed to faithfully living out everything I teach.