This is always an issue for me . . . how I might know the Bible about how to be and relate in love, but I can be intellectual about it, including sharing explanations; but am I really how God is able to have me become?
So, what helps you to get wise to how you are only being intellectual or producing just your own version of being unselfish?
It's all about core intent. I continually ask myself why I think or do something. Am I praying for someone so I can feel good about praying for them? Am I reading my Bible just because that's what I'm supposed to do, or so I can feel good about it? Am I bowing before God and singing "...that saved a wretch like me" because I actually think I was a wretch, or because people will look at me funny for not singing along?
What's my core intent? Why do I do what I do?
So, what have you been feeding on, now, from Scripture?
I've been looking through the ministry of Christ to understand my identity as His friend. I grew up in a toxic religion I call "churchianity," so I've spent a lot of time studying Christ's life, so that I might understand what it means to follow Christ.
Do you want to share, more or less personally, about how your mentor has been good for you?
As assuredly as God saved my soul, He sent my mentor to save my life. When I met my mentor, I was a 25-year old boy with the maturity of a child. I was arrogant, literally living in my own filth, and still buried under the crushing shame of my sin.
My mentor began to clear away the garbage in my life. He showed me love on a practical level, not just an emotional one. Being loved by my mentor did not feel good, because he would often make me realize where I was, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. He didn't use a "tough love" approach, but a "real love" approach.
We met through a writer's group, and he had something about his mental illness published. Independent of him, I read the published work, and saw bits and pieces of myself. I went to him to ask about it, and he helped me to find a therapist to diagnose me. As I began to grow, he talked me through the growing pains and uncharted waters.
When I was evicted and my family refused to let me live with them, my mentor gave me a place to stay. He counseled me in fitness, in knowledge, in hygiene, in wisdom, and in the process of growing from a boy into a man. He was and is patient with me, and to this day, he continues to provide me with opportunities to help me establish myself. Just a few weeks ago he gave me some work to help me earn a little money.
It is a fact that without my mentor, I'd be dead.