Day 13: "Connecting with Spiritual Mentors"

Before we move on to the topic of grow, let’s consider this verse as we look at our last day on this topic of connect:

“Make this your common practice: confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.” James 5:16 (The Message)

Why is it so hard for us to think about confessing our sins to one another? Why is it that we run from being completely honest with others about our struggles and our sins? We know the Christian faith is based on what Jesus has done about our sin, and that it is because of our weakness we see our need for him. We know that if we had it all together, we would not need God; we could do it on our own. But we know that we cannot do it on our own. Each of us has a sin problem that we need God’s help to overcome, and many times, God uses our connections with other believers to do this.

God calls us to do life together, and this includes confessing our sins to one other, encouraging one another, and praying for one another. We need to connect to other believers by pursuing deep, Christ-centered relationships.

About 5 years ago, I began to feel like something was missing in my friendships. I sensed most conversations were superficial, and I longed for deeper connections with my Christian friends through genuine, meaningful spiritual conversations. I wanted someone I could discuss my struggles with and someone to pray with me. So I asked God for a spiritual mentor. It took a few years, but God answered my prayers. My spiritual mentor has helped me deal with my stuff. She is someone who holds me accountable, checks in with me, prays for me, and encourages me. I have grown tremendously in my walk with the Lord during this time.

Spiritual mentors are not perfect people who have got the whole Christian life thing figured out. They are people who are willing to love, support, encourage, and pray for others. They are willing to share their successes as well as their mistakes, and are willing to be transparent and open in order to help another person along in their Christian walk.

In August, the women of our church had the opportunity to learn from 5 of our “seasoned saints” at the women’s tea. These ladies shared their life experiences with us: good times and difficult times, how God brought them through, and what God had taught them. It was an amazing time of connection. We all walked away feeling different and wanting more time to learn from these women.

Our blog will now turn to the topic of growing in our relationships with Christ. Transparent, authentic connections with other believers are essential. We need this connection in order to grow. Connecting with other believers helps you to connect to Christ, and when you get closer to Christ, you will grow. It is inevitable.

~Angela Sutsakhan