Teachers are among the gifted people Christ gave the church to help us become more like Him.
“And he (Christ) himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.” Ephesians 4:11-13
How many teachers have you had? When you estimate the number of teachers you have had over a lifetime it has to be close to a hundred. Teachers in public schools, private schools, colleges, seminaries, and churches – they really start to add up.
How many of your teachers would you consider “life-changing” teachers? These are the teachers we can easily remember their name and describe how they impacted our lives. Out of the hundred, we can name a handful.
Why are there only a few that really stand out? Our preferences and personality have influenced our choices for this “short-list” of our influential teachers. Some teachers hold tightly to the stewardship potential of their learning experiences with us and they change our lives.
We cannot be “that” teacher for all of our students. But we can consider how we are teaching the people in our circles of influence.
How many students will you have? Dozens? Hundreds? Thousands? Our hope is that someday we will have influenced some of them to the extent that our most influential teachers have influenced us.
“Lord, Thank you for my teachers. Help me reach out to one of them today to say ‘thanks.’ Show me how I can be a life-changing teacher to someone I influence today. In the name of Jesus, amen.”