Trusting that the Holy Spirit is at work in your own life can be challenging enough at times. But trusting that he’s at work in other people’s lives? Now that’s really difficult! But if you’re doing coaching, discipling or mentoring of any kind, it’s absolutely essential.
So how do you know when you really trust that the Holy Spirit is at work inside others?
- You let people hear from God for themselves
- You encourage them to listen to the Spirit
- You resist the temptation to tell them what they should do
- You ensure that they don’t become dependent on you or your advice
- You don’t take responsibility for their growth—you let them do that
- You let them fail once in a while
With all of these actions, you risk looking less competent as a coach, mentor, or disciple. You’re not the right-answer go-to guy and those who follow you mess up sometimes. But you also open the way for independent growth of the other person as they come to rely on the Holy Spirit for themselves. And in the future when they are mentoring others, they just might remember—and imitate—what you did for them.