Teach

Read Proverbs 21

When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. Matthew 11:1  

The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught…. When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. Mark 6:30, 34  

Jesus was the greatest teacher ever—even non-believers and Jews will admit that Jesus was a great teacher. These verses from the Bible tell us that Jesus taught His disciples—He gave them instructions teaching them to be teachers. When they got together again, the disciples reported what they had taught and done. He also taught more than just His disciples, He compassionately taught the everyday people. This was just before the feeding of the five thousand men. That taught compassion to the disciples—as well as the great crowd. So what can we learn about teaching from Jesus?

1.      Do it with compassion – just like He taught and fed the 5,000—we should approach those we have the opportunity to teach with compassion.

2.      Teach those who are in our immediate circle—like His disciples. Disciple or train them in the way that Jesus did: focusing on putting God first, following His teachings and commandments, the importance of bearing fruit, loving one another, and making disciples. Teach others to be ready themselves to teach others about Christ.

3.      Teach others beyond our immediate circle. Jesus went out to the cities and taught people wherever they came to Him—like by the Galilean Lake shore.

4.      Listen to those you are teaching. Jesus listened to His disciples. He met their needs. One example of this is when they asked Him to teach them to pray—and He gave us the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

5.      Take time with those you are teaching—nothing of value happens instantaneously unless it is a miracle. Discussion with those you are teaching/discipling is a good way of learning—giving insights to both the student and the teacher.

6.      Teach by example—Jesus washed the feet of His disciples (John 13:4-12).  

Training Tip – Make a list of things you want to teach your children. Then prioritize the list and create a monthly, weekly, and then daily goals list so that you can accomplish what you want to teach them, especially what you can do to help them become more like Christ. 

Lord, help us to be teachable and give us wisdom and understanding that we can be better teachers to bring You glory and honor.

All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.

© 2013 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.