ODJ: A Rewarding Investment

February 16, 2018 

READ: Titus 2:3-5 

Teach others what is good (v.3).

Though mentoring is not a biblical word, it is a way of life,” wrote author Andi Ashworth. “In essence, mentoring is showing and telling, a lifestyle of receiving God’s gifts, learning to know, love and live what is good, and passing on that knowledge to others.”

Mary Wallace fulfilled this role in my life. From the age of sixty until her death at eighty-four, Mrs. Wallace took me deeper into God’s Word, helped me grapple with life’s toughest questions and modelled a life of faithfulness to God. I remember when she led two friends and me in a study of Genesis. Most Monday nights, for nearly two years, we studied it in great detail, asking questions and considering how the passages within pointed to our Creator and Lord.

As the apostle Paul expressed in Philippians 1:25, Mrs. Wallace was convinced that it was a gift from God to be able to invest in others’ lives, to spur them on to maturity, urge them to pursue wisdom and help them more deeply experience the “joy of [their] faith”. Her life demonstrated the joy that can result when mature believers “teach others what is good” (Titus 2:3).

Advancing in years doesn’t guarantee positive growth in our lives, for it’s not our age, but God’s grace, that brings about transformation. In Titus 2:3-5, we see that it’s God’s will for all of His followers to live in a way that “honours” Him (v.3) and demonstrates gratitude for who our Creator and our Redeemer is and all He’s done for us (Romans 12:1).

God has graciously invited us to experience rich fellowship and divine purpose as we pour into the lives of others. In His power, may we encourage brothers and sisters in Christ to live out the wisdom of the Scriptures.

—Roxanne Robbins

365-day plan: Exodus 32:1-29