When approached to teach a Bible class, you often hear, “Me? Teach? I don’t think so!” We have some feigned notion that in order to be a “teacher,” you have to “know it all,” but the opposite is true. You certainly don’t have to know it all, but you do need to be willing to study and learn as you go. I have found that preparing Scripture Writing Schedules or Bible class lessons is the best part of being a Bible class teacher. Nothing beats personal study time in God’s Word.
This past week, I’ve been writing the Scripture Writing Schedule on “Teach.” The memory verse was Acts 5:42, “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” The apostles taught someone about Jesus every day! Do you mention anything about being a Christian? tell someone what the Lord means to you? or invite someone to worship services on a daily basis? We are to “let the word of Christ dwell in you (us) richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16). Paul told Timothy to “meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; . . take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine; continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee” (I Timothy 4:15-16). Did you get that? We are to meditate on the Word and give ourselves wholly to them.” He encouraged the young man to “preach the word; be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (II Timothy 4:2). That basically means “preach it when they like it and preach it when they don’t!” Are you more likely to “speak up” when certain people aren’t around?
The children of Israel were told, “These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets (bangs) between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates” (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). Notice, we can only teach diligently the things that we have in our hearts. We can turn every moment into a “teaching moment.”
Our prayer should be “teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy Spirit is good; lead me into the land of righteousness (Psalms 143:10). We should teach by example, “in word, in manner of life, in love, in spirit in faith, in purity” (I Timothy 4:12). So basically, whether we realize it or not or even mean to or not, we are all teachers. Others are observing how we handle what life has to offer. We don’t have to stand in front of a class to be a teacher. May you cease not to “teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:42). Simply blessed, Courtney