I would not choose a mentor of poor integrity. To me, ones integrity can be the blueprint of there character. Integrity to me is ones willingness to live in truth regardless of consequence. I would not seek the advice of one with such deficiency. It would be advice without foundation or experience.
You know.. walk the walk as opposed to just talk the talk.
ive taken what i considered the better qualities from people that mentored me along the way. i never fell into " hero worship" w/ a mentor. no one is absolute. ive worked w/ people whom ive admired and may not have subscribed to all of thier beliefs and ethics. i worked w/ a guy who was an outstanding plumber, but liked to drink his lunch on friday on the company dime. i adopted the trade skills but left his flawed issue behind.
Lack of integrity would cause be to question absolutely everything; however, I would not dismiss advice just because the person giving it was a liar. The advice would have to sound reasonable and make sense to me. If I thought the advice was a little out there, I wouldn't waste time trying to figure it out. Consider the source and move on, life is too short to figure out a liars motives.
On the other hand, I do not take advice blindly from those with integrity either. Even in mentoring situations, I run everything through my own logic and ethics before proceeding. When I take advice, I proceed with caution.
There are a lot of people who I have interacted with that I would not invest money with. However, at the same time I have made money by following some of their ideas but with injecting my ethics into them.
"Never trust anyone. Don't believe anything you hear and only 2% of what you actually see. We have people we can't teach, people who can't learn, people who let other people lead them by the nose, and people who listen and can make intelligent choices without prodding. Yes, even myself. Never believe one word I write, but what if 2% of what I say is true. You must have the ability to see the truth or what someone tells you won't matter, anyway."
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that a person who is a liar is not someone I wish to mentor me. I am not talking about a little lie here and there. That's wrong but not my point. I am talking about deliberately lying as a way of doing business. That mentality will taint everything they teach you. I may take an idea away, but I will not knowingly allow such a person to mentor me.
Of course, not everyone regards being a deliberate, habitual liar as being a person with no integrity.
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that a person who is a liar is not someone I wish to mentor me. I am not talking about a little lie here and there. That's wrong but not my point. I am talking about deliberately lying as a way of doing business. That mentality will taint everything they teach you. I may take an idea away, but I will not knowingly allow such a person to mentor me.
Of course, not everyone regards being a deliberate, habitual liar as being a person with no integrity.
I have been susceptible to losing my integrity in the recent past. I was tempted to do things that would compromise it because of financial desperation. I check myself at every turn to make sure it has not taken root. Lose integrity and you lost it all. That fact has probably made me more sensitive to seeing it being lost around me. It just galls me when I see those without that integrity try to mentor others. On another forum (oriented around a religious background) I see a total hypocrite wrapping people around his thumb. He purports to be a wonderful Christian teacher but secretly he is a lying snake. And some of my friends are sucking it up.
MANY ARE CALLED FEW ARE CHOSEN. Maybe it's time to surround yourself with new/ better friends. Or just be patient. Like I said when- if they find the error of there ways, they'll need a good friend to lean on. Also don't judge them to harsh. Like you said you were almost there yourself.
I would not be mentored by a habitual liar, a cheat, or anyone on the internet for that matter. Integrity is something I take very personally and if I feel someone does not have it, I keep them at arms length.
As for the Christian misleading on the internet, that is a real shame. Those who know better (biblically speaking) are held to a higher standard and are more accountable than the rest of the flock.
Judgement will come for the person you speak of, in the meantime, you can be there for your friend and help him find his integrity again.
Someone who is a lying, cheating, theiving sack of manure may not be the best person to trust. Compare what they say to what you know is true. "A wise man listens to many counsellors" Thats straight from the "Real Code Book"
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