One important way to set a gospel-predominant tone for the mentor session is to share a devotional thought with the mentee. There are a few ways to do this depending on the amount of time you have to prepare beforehand as well as your level of comfort with the mentee.
Share your own devotion with him.
Pick out a Bible passage that has impacted your life recently or a passage that you think would be especially encouraging to him.
Find the law and gospel in the passage.
Write out how the law in this passage convicts you (and might convict him).
Write out how the gospel in this passage comforts and empowers you (and want it to comfort and empower him).
Once you are prepared, read the devotion to him or say it in your own words using your notes.
Read a devotion or article that others have written.
Make sure that the devotion/article properly applies law and gospel to convict and comfort, to guide and empower, and keeps the gospel predominant. This is a time to encourage the mentee, not to confuse or discourage her.
Read it over at least once ahead of time so that you do not stumble over the words and distract the mentee.
Do a brief Bible study with her.
As with sharing you own devotion, pick out a Bible passage that has really impacted you recently or a passage you think would be especially encouraging to her.
Find the law and gospel in the passage.
Create some questions that will help you two discuss this passage together. Here are some examples (see “the Cycle of Spiritual Growth” section below):
What strikes you about this passage?
How does this passage convict and/or comfort you?
How does this passage address your life callings and/or charge you up?
How can you apply or appropriate the main points of the passage into your life this week?
NOTE: You must be watchful of your time if you choose to do a brief study. If you have only one hour available and spend 40 minutes of it on the Bible study, that will not leave much time for the other key aspects of the mentor session.
Through the Bible, the One True God not only teaches us how to be accepted by him through Jesus Christ; he also teaches us how to grow in our relationship with him.
Repent of Your Sins (Convict) – As Jesus began his ministry, his very first message to people was “repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). To “repent” quite simply means to “turn around.” Repentance is turning away from our self-righteousness and self-justification. It is accepting that we deserve God’s eternal punishment by nature because we have offended him through the evil we have done and the good we have failed to do. God leads us toward repentance by convicting our hearts with his law.
Believe the Good News (Comfort) – Jesus not only invited people to repent; he also invited them to “believe the good news.” The good news is this: Even though we deserve God’s rejection and punishment, God’s Son Jesus became a human being to save us. He lived the perfect life we should have lived, suffered the punishment we deserve, and rose from the dead to guarantee that we are acceptable to God through him. Jesus invites all people to believe this good news for themselves and be comforted that God has forgiven all their guilt—past, present, and future. You can rest fully in his grace without fear.
Carry out Your Callings (Calling) – Paul writes in Ephesians 4:1, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Now that we have been accepted by God through faith in Jesus, we are called to live godly lives that reflect Jesus faithfully in all our God-given callings (as spouses, parents, children, workers, students, citizens, etc.). But that is difficult to do, as Jesus tells us, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Even though we are acceptable to God through Jesus and want to reflect him in our lives, our selfish natures wish to continue living in rebellion against him. As God’s beloved children, we must learn to deny what our selfish natures crave and to carry our cross like Jesus did, that is, to humbly reflect Christ in every situation and calling even when it is difficult. Carrying out your callings involves carrying your cross.
Charge Up with God’s Promises (Charge Up) – Because Jesus knows that denying ourselves and carrying our cross can be difficult, even painful, he has given us countless loving promises that empower us to rest in Christ fully and reflect him faithfully. Missionary Paul speaks about this in 2 Corinthians 5:14,17, “For Christ’s love compels us…Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
Note: When Jesus was speaking to the religious experts of his day, he reminded them that they could not truly understand the Bible unless they saw him at the center of it (John 5:39). He is the Blessing for all nations. He is the Sacrificial Lamb. He is the Greater King. So, a good question to ask yourself whenever you study the Bible is: Where is Christ evident in this section, even if he is not mentioned specifically?
These four components make up the Cycle of Spiritual Growth. As we daily repent and receive the comfort of the good news, we carry out our callings, empowered by God’s promises. Since we fail in some way every day, we regularly continue the cycle to repent, believe the good news, carry out our callings, and power up with God’s promises. God strengthens our relationship with him through this process.
The most important step of preparing a devotional thought is meditating on and then applying a Bible passage or devotion to yourself first. That might seem backwards at first glance. If you are preparing a devotion for someone else, shouldn’t you consider what they need first? But remember: If we apply the law to our own lives and fill up with the gospel for ourselves first, we will have the strength, wisdom, words to fill up others.
When to Share the Devotion
It is not overly important where you schedule the devotion in the mentor session. The most important thing is that you include it every time.
When you are initially building the mentor-mentee relationship, it is a good idea to open sessions with a devotion. However, after you get to know the mentee better, you might discover more appropriate times to share a devotion based on her personality or situation. For example, I mentored a brother who always sounded and looked more guilty the longer we talked. Finally, I started sharing a devotional thought at the end of every session to assure him that he was still forgiven and loved by God. I wanted the gospel to be the final word he heard from me.
After mentoring for several years now, I often prepare a devotional thought that I plan to use at some time during the mentor session. The right time for sharing it often arises naturally during a session, based upon the mentee’s experience or mood.
Don’t Be Afraid to Recycle
There is no reason the devotional thought must be unique to every mentee. You may craft a devotion that would fit all your mentees in some way and then make specific application to them personally. You may choose to share a few verses from your own personal devotions that week and tailor your thoughts for each of mentee. Don’t be afraid to recycle, and don’t needlessly add work to your already busy schedule.
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