Ask Fred > Career/Work > Can a mentor bless and affirm giftedness?

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Dear Fred

In the area of mentoring, do you believe that a mentor can or should confirm a calling on a person's life? In my own life, I struggled for some time between what my true ambition and giftedness was leading me to do, versus what the general masses of people thought my life's calling was. I believe an authoratative confirmation of my calling from a mentor would have saved me years of struggling on this matter. Perhaps what I needed was a mentor's blessing and confirming of what my true giftedness was. Do you believe this is even possible?

Fred's Response

I think you needed a career counselor or a gift evaluator much more than what I define as a mentor. I think a mentor helps you accomplish what you are dedicated to doing. He does not determine what you should be doing. You want to feel that you are doing God’s will rather than the will of others. People will always have a tendency to want to use you while you must want to be used by God. Like the Apostle Paul you must forget the things that are behind, remembering that if God wants to He can restore the years that the locust have eaten.