The Role of Mentors

One of the roles of mentors is to give a fresh perspective with directness and encouragement. In our passage today, Moses has been leading the people of Israel out in the wilderness for a long, long time. He’s settled into doing all the leadership work himself. When his father-in-law shows up, he steps in as a mentor to Moses to help him gain clarity on what is wise. Note how he pays attention to Moses’s lack of self-care, as well as to the leadership dilemma.

The next day Moses took his seat to serve as judge for the people, and they stood around him from morning till evening. When his father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he said, “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and instructions.”

Moses’ father-in-law replied, “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. - Exodus 18:13-18

Jethro then devises a plan for Moses to train other leaders and to share the load, which works out way better.

Remember that a mentor can be a peer mentor, an author of a book you’re reading, an older friend, etc. - there are lots of ways to receive mentorship. Do you have mentors who have the freedom to speak into your life? Are you open to receiving input from them?