Never Stop Growing: Finding Wisdom and Passing It On

It is difficult to explain the impact they had on my life, especially since I usually saw them only one or two weeks each year. Yet the time we spent together left a lasting impression. Through their words, their example, and the way they treated others, they helped shape the person I became.

Not everyone had people like that growing up. Perhaps you did not have parents, grandparents, teachers, or other adults who encouraged you and showed you the right path.

Look for People Who Will Help You Grow

Look for people who inspire you, support you, challenge you, and encourage you to become the person God created you to be.

Find someone who has the kind of faith, marriage, character, or wisdom you admire. Watch how that person lives. Ask questions. Listen carefully. Most people who have learned valuable lessons through years of experience are glad to share what they know with someone who sincerely wants to learn.

Often, these mentors will be older people who have traveled farther down the road. They have made mistakes, faced hardships, raised families, built careers, experienced loss, and learned to trust God through difficult seasons.

But wisdom is not limited by age. God can use people of every generation to teach us. Sometimes a younger person may understand something we do not, bring a new perspective, or demonstrate a faith that challenges us to grow.

The important thing is to remain humble enough to learn.

Wisdom Can Be Found in Many Places

A mentor does not always have to be someone you meet with in person. Wisdom can also be found through books, audiobooks, sermons, blogs, podcasts, and the testimonies of faithful people.

Above all, wisdom is found in God’s Word.

Never stop growing. Never stop asking questions. Never assume that you have learned everything you need to know.

Finishing high school or college should never mark the end of your education. It should be only the beginning. Our entire lives should be spent gaining wisdom, developing our abilities, drawing closer to God, and learning how to serve others more faithfully.

Become the Person You Once Needed

There comes a time when we must do more than seek mentors. We must also become mentors.

Those of us who are older have years of experience that can benefit someone else. We have learned lessons through success and failure, joy and disappointment, wise choices and poor ones. Those lessons should not end with us.

If you have children or grandchildren, consider the influence you can have on their lives. You may not see them every day. You may not think they are listening. But never underestimate the power of your example.

Look beyond your family as well. A young person at church, a new Christian, a struggling parent, or someone beginning a career may need encouragement and direction. They may simply need someone who believes in them, listens to them, prays for them, and reminds them that God has a purpose for their life.

You do not need a formal mentoring program to begin. Invite someone to lunch. Ask how they are doing. Share a lesson God has taught you. Offer practical help. Pray with them and continue checking on them.

Mentoring often begins with simply paying attention.

The Harvest Is Already Here

Jesus told His disciples:

We can easily believe that the right opportunity will come later. We tell ourselves we will serve when life becomes less busy, share our faith when we feel better prepared, or mentor someone when a formal program is organized.

But Jesus tells us to open our eyes. The opportunity is already in front of us.

There are people around you right now who need encouragement. They need wisdom, hope, direction, and the truth of God’s love. They may be in your family, your church, your neighborhood, or your workplace.

Someone invested in you. Perhaps it was a grandparent, parent, teacher, pastor, coach, or friend. Honor that influence by passing it on.

You may never fully know the difference you make. My grandparents probably did not realize how deeply they were shaping my life during those few weeks we shared each year.

But their influence remains with me today.

Yours can do the same for someone else.