Parents as Godly Mentors

Parents as Godly Mentors: God is omniscient, meaning that He knows all things, including the best parents for each child He sends to the earth. Last month, we discussed how parents could be role models for their children. In this edition, we explore the role of parents as godly mentors. The two terms, role model and mentor do not mean the same thing.

A role model is someone whose behaviour, actions, or success you admire and emulate, while a mentor is a trusted individual with more experience who provides guidance, advice, and support to help you develop and achieve your goals. Mentors have a direct, often one-on-one relationship with the person they are guiding, while role models can be admired from afar without any direct interaction.

  Parents can serve as influential mentors to their children and others, offering guidance, sharing expertise, and fostering growth in various areas of life. They can do this by identifying and developing the talents of their children, and building strong relationships with them. God assigns parents the core responsibility of giving their children guidance.

His instruction to parents in this regards is stated in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Ephesians 6:4 carries the same theme: “Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

        Mentoring your children involves actively guiding and supporting their development by fostering open communication, building trust, and providing constructive feedback. It is about helping them to discover their potentials, setting goals and navigating challenges of life. The ultimate aim is to empower them to become confident and capable individuals.

It is however important for parents to remember that God created everyone with unique skills and temperament. Therefore, they must resist the urge to mould their children into their image. This is particularly applicable to the choice of careers.

          Some parents make the mistake of trying to coerce their children into choosing careers that they are not suited for, thereby creating friction within the family. God gives parents authority to train their children and to guide them aright, but they (parents) must seek His face and be led by the Holy Spirit in executing this crucial spiritual mandate. Colossians 3:21 cautions parents, especially father against provoking their children by their actions. That brings us to the most essential point in this discourse – no one can give others what he does not have.

            Parents who do not have a functional or productive relationship with God cannot lead their children aright. Therefore, it is critically important that parents must build and nurture their relationship with God before they start producing children. This will entail daily fellowship with the Father in His word and unceasing prayers for Him to bless their homes. Children born into such godly environment will easily adapt to spiritual things and not become a source of shame to the family.

*****Some materials sourced from Google Artificial Intelligence (AI) Overview.