Mentoring for Discipleship and Spiritual Growth

Mentoring is of two types: formal and informal. Formal mentoring deals with a developmental process that is planned and executed to facilitate and support learning in an organizational context between two individuals. Informal mentoring is a relationship that forms by chance without an agenda or prearranged meeting. It is spontaneous and less structured and it is not normally recognized by an organization. It develops naturally and continuously on a voluntary basis.The Bible cites many examples of mentoring both formal and informal. The way God dealt with Adam and Eve, Noah, and Abraham represents the formal aspect of mentoring in the Bible. Elijahs mentoring of Elisha is another example of formal mentoring. However, the way Naomi mentored Ruth was more of an informal way of mentoring.Mentoring can also be spiritual and non-spiritual. Non-spiritual mentoring uses non-biblical principles for training and teaching individuals, while spiritual mentoring is primarily based on biblical principles that are used to train and teach individual virtues that will develop a more ethical, loyal, and honest person.