Learn Before You Teach

What does it mean to be a teacher? How can someone be a teacher unless they first learn? Have you ever attempted to teach something you did not know well? Have you had a teacher who seemed to be lost or unsure?

Teaching is challenging. A good teacher does research into the subject they will teach. They become an expert, or at least know the subject well, before they teach. A good teacher learns more than their students. Should just anyone decide to teach?

Teaching, as Paul tells Timothy, is not something for the faint of heart. A teacher must know what they are teaching. It requires study, research, thought, and a plan. A person cannot simply fly by the seat of their pants and be a good teacher.

Also notice that Paul is talking about people who do not teach well. They do not fully know the subject. In fact, they don’t really know what they state is true. Have any of us done that? Do we do that today? How well do we know the truth of God—His Word?

To know God’s Word well, and to be able to teach it, we must first study it. We must seek more learned teachers. We must seek translations that are true to the meaning of the original language. We must be continual students while also teaching what we have learned about God’s Word.

I pray we all study God’s Word. I pray we seek to read authors who have spent extensive time studying the original language. I pray each one of us will seek to learn more about God’s Word. Be a learner. Study God’s Word. Read commentaries. Look deeper. Research God’s Word. Learn before you teach.

1 Timothy 1:5-7 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

Teach Yourself

Are you a person who likes teaching others? Do you continually correct the faults you see in others? Do you talk about the faults of others but do not tell them? Have you taught yourself and fixed your own faults?

It is easy to see the faults in others. We may even see our own faults. Yet we typically do not talk about our faults, while we talk about everyone else’s faults quite often. This is one reason those outside the church do not want to join the church.

The Apostle Paul chastises the church in Rome for doing the very things they teach others not to do. He is not just speaking to individuals, but to the church as a whole. Have you ever thought about the church as a whole?

If the preacher is preaching against stealing, but someone in the church steals, it is a black eye on the entire church. If a Sunday School teacher is teaching against breaking the law, but members break the law anyway, it damages the reputation of the entire church. Think about it. We have all heard someone say they are a member at such and such church and the response is, “Oh, that’s where so and so did such and such bad thing.” We can all fill in the blanks.

Our conduct is a reflection on not only ourselves, but also the church of which we are members. When we, as a group, as a body, are all cognizant of our behavior and focus on fulfilling Christ’s commands, our church will grow. As one of the sayings we used in the Marine Corps states, “our conduct must be above reproach.” That applies to our church as well.

I pray we all take seriously our conduct. I pray we realize our individual conduct reflects on the body of Christ. I pray each one of us will first look to teach ourselves better conduct. Teach yourself. Abide by Jesus’ commands. Be a positive reflection on the church. Attract others with your conduct.

Romans 2:17-24 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

The Wait is Over

Do you realize the gift you have? Have you taken time to evaluate what has been given to you and for you? Are you appreciative of the gift? How appreciative? How do you show your appreciation?

We have been given a gift beyond what the riches of this world can buy. Unfortunately, we either do not realize just how precious this gift is or we do not fully appreciate it. Perhaps it is a bit of both.

Think about it for just a moment. Maybe this illustration will help us grasp the enormity of it. The Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox had waited decades to win a World Series championship. The Cubs waited 107 years. The White Sox waited 87 years. The Red Sox waited 85 years. There were very few people alive when they finally won who had seen or experienced their last World Series championship.

The prophets of the Old Testament were prophesying about the coming of the Messiah. Neither they nor anyone else alive at the time of their prophecy was alive when He finally came. The prophecies were between 400 and 1,000 years before Jesus was born. Talk about a long wait!

Notice in today’s passage that it was not only the prophets who longed to see the coming of the Messiah. The angels in heaven also longed to see His coming. Why? It was a significant step in God’s plan. It was the step that would redeem the world. It was a step that provided a pathway to spending eternity with God. We now live in that redemption. We now reap the benefits of God having sent His Son to be our Savior. It would please God if we truly appreciated what He did for us.

I pray we all realize just how precious the gift of God is. I pray we understand how long the wait was for Jesus to come. I pray each one of us wait now with anticipation of His coming again. Comprehend the enormity of God’s gift. Be very appreciative of it. Show God your appreciation every day. Give God the glory.

1 Peter 1:10-12 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Jars of Clay

Have you ever thought of yourself as a clay jar or pot? Have you ever had a clay pot? Did it get broken? Did you attempt to repair it? Did you make it whole again?

I venture to say that none of us typically think of ourselves as clay jars. Be real! A clay jar is easily broken. We are much tougher than that. Are we?

We take offense quite easily. It seems to have gotten worse as time has passed on. Today’s culture is so easily offended that we are afraid to say anything. People have their feelings hurt when someone else doesn’t agree with them.

Hurt feelings. Depression. Anxiety. Fear. Anger. Hatred. All of these are signs of a broken person. They are a sign of someone who has forgotten to rely on God. They pointedly show us that we are broken jars of clay.

The word interpreted as clay can be interpreted as earthenware. Are we not earthenware? We were created from the dust of the earth and to the dust we shall return.

But notice what we carry inside us. We carry the treasure of God. We carry the gospel message. We carry the Holy Spirit. We have the power and strength of God at our fingertips. There is no reason for us to continue going through life as a broken jar. God can put us back together again.

I pray we all see that we are fragile when we stand alone. I pray we decide to lean on God for our strength and courage. I pray each one of us will allow God to make us new again. Know you are broken. Know everyone is broken. Know you carry a treasure. Know you carry Christ inside. Experience the power of God. Be put back together by Jesus.

2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

Certainty in Eternity

Looking for certainty? Desiring to know someone has your back? Wanting to have a guarantee you won’t be cheated out of? Want to know your future? Have you looked in the obvious direction? Have you looked to the only One who can give you all this?

Guarantees can be broken. I’m sure someone reading this has bought a product, it failed, took it back to activate the guarantee only to discover there was some small print that invalidated their claim. It is frustrating. It can make you feel small or stupid.

Certainty is only a pipe dream in this world. When we really think about it, we cannot be certain we will get another breath, another day, another week, another month, another year. We cannot be certain of much in this world, but there is one thing we can be certain of.

The one certainty, guarantee, promise we can count on is that those in Christ will be raised to live with Him for eternity. It is more certain than the sun coming up tomorrow. It is more certain than your ice cream being sweet. You cannot be more certain than spending eternity with Christ if you have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.

Imagine the confidence you can have in His promise. Ask yourself why you fear anything. Think about the extravagant gift of a promise that is certain to be kept. Trust the guarantee made by God, the One who will never renege on it. Nothing can dislodge, disrupt, stop, reroute, or in any way keep God from fulfilling his promises.

I pray we are all confident in Gods promises. I pray we trust in the guarantee of eternity made to us. I pray each one of us are certain in our commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Be buried with Christ. Be risen in Christ. Be certain. Be confident. Trust the promise. Accept the guarantee.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Stumble But Remain Upright

Do you stumble sometimes? Do you fall? Are you able to get back up? Do you stumble in life? Have you experienced setbacks? Are you able to pick yourself up and get back on track? Would you like to have help? Would you like reassurance?

As my mother has gotten older, I have begun to understand the fear of falling. As we get older falling can be fatal. Not because we die immediately. But a broken hip can be extremely difficult to recover from if we recover at all. Therefore, some simply give up.

Stumbling in life can cause the same type of response. Things go sideways, we stumble and fall, and we get to the point that we just don’t want to struggle anymore. Our future looks bleak. But there is Someone we can rely on to keep us from falling when we stumble.

We have heard that God is always with us, and it is true. It is not whether God is with us or not. It comes down to us trusting him. In every relationship, trust only increases as we interact and experience one another. In the same way our trust in God increases as we interact and experience him.

When we trust God, rely on him, and experience him regularly, we are kept from falling. We may stumble along the way due to bad decisions. But we can be sure God will hold us, lift us, steady us, and keep us from falling. We are strengthened and continue to walk, even if a little slower than before. May we all seek to strengthen our relationship with God before we stumble so as to build our trust in him.

I pray we all interact and experience God in our daily lives. I pray we choose to build a better relationship with God. I pray each one of us know we can trust God to keep us upright when we stumble. Interact with God in prayer. Experience God being with you. Rely on him to uphold you. Trust that God will not let you fall. Trust that God is always with you.

Psalm 37:23-24

The Lord makes firm the steps

of the one who delights in him;

though he may stumble, he will not fall,

for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

God is Always with Us

Are there things you love in this world? Do you love your home? Do you love your job? Do you love the great outdoors? Do you love your family? Are those loves equal? Do you love some more than others? Who or what is your greatest love?

We love lots of things, people, and pets. At least, we say we do. But there are different levels of love. They range from liking something a lot to being so intense that we don’t know how we will survive if it is taken from us. Where does God stand on that scale?

I have had several conversations with fellow Christians where we both wonder how some people can go through what they are going through without God. I can remember going through a couple of tough times before I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. Looking back, they were extremely hard and, in one case, very dark. I would not want to go through those times without God again.

On the other hand, I have gone through tough times with God. In fact, I think I have gone through more tough times and harder times with God, and they have not been dark at all. By putting my trust and faith in God, being confident he had a plan for me, I knew everything was going to work out fine. There was an inner peace while going through them.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God is always with us. We have the comfort of knowing God is in control and has already put his plan in motion. What is our lesson in this? Rather than loving the things of this world, we should love God. After all, it is God who has blessed us with the things of this world. When we do not know how we could live without the love of God, we have come to the point he wants us—relying on him.

I pray we all love God as deeply as he loves us. I pray we set aside our love for things of this world. I pray each one of us put our faith in God, fully trusting he is always with us. Trust God. Love God. Put your faith in God. Know that he is always with you. Be at peace in God.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.”

Extravagant Love

How is your relationship with God? Do you connect with Christ? Are you communicating with God on a regular basis? Do you only reach out when you are in trouble, fearful, filled with anxiety, or in dire need? Do you know you are loved by Christ?

Our relationship with God depends as much on us as it does God. Just like any relationship, we must put an effort into it. If we are unwilling to work at it, God will not force us, even though he desires us to be in close relationship with him.

However, there is one thing we can be sure of—God loves us…no matter what. Have you truly pondered that? God loves you! In fact, he loves each and every person who walks this earth. He desires that every person chooses to love him back and be in relationship with him.

The Apostle Paul asks rhetorical questions in today’s passage. Just a few verses later he answers his rhetorical questions with an emphatic declaration that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. That means no matter how many times we fall to the temptations Satan throws at us, Christ will still love us.

Yet, that doesn’t give us license to be obstinate and disobedient. Christ desires that we love Him back, appreciating His sacrifice for us. Can we relate? I’m sure we can. When we do something extremely difficult for someone else, we also want them to appreciate what we have done. Why would we think Christ would be any different?

Just as a parent loves a child, even if that child falls into a drug or alcohol induced stupor, Christ loves us. If that child commits grand theft, a parent still loves them. If the child commits murder, the parent still loves them. Sure, they may admit they deserve punishment, but they love them.

I pray we all know that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. I pray we choose to be in relationship with God. I pray each one of us appreciate His sacrifice for us and return His love. Know that Christ loves you. Choose a relationship with God. Love Christ as He loves you.

Romans 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Moldable Clay

Do you look at yourself as a self-made man or woman? Are you working hard to make yourself into the person you have been told you should be? Or are you working to make yourself to be like someone you have seen and desire to model yourself after?

Some of us strive diligently to make something of ourselves. We may have been encouraged, or even pushed, by our parents into a certain profession and had high expectations put on us. Others may have seen someone in their lives they admire and strive to be like them.

Based on my observances, we too often model ourselves on someone we see on television or in the movies. We fail to realize, first of all, that they are actors playing a part. Second, they get multiple takes or chances to get it right for the screen. Even those in reality shows don’t have all their mistakes shown. We hold these people in high esteem rather than the real person in our midst.

On the other hand, we hear people say, “Just be yourself.” Often, they mean to say and do whatever you want. That is a recipe for disaster as well. At least, that meaning of it is. But we are to be ourselves and there is a way to do so that is highly effective.

When we are our authentic selves, the person God has made us to be, truly seeking to follow his plan for our lives, we live the abundant life. That requires us to recognize him as our Father and as the potter. It requires us to be pliable and moldable like clay. It requires us to continually go to him in prayer, asking how he wants us to act, where he wants us to go, what he wants us to do, and being willing to be the person he is molding us into. No two of us are exactly the same. We are to be who we were made to be.

I pray we all seek to be our authentic selves. I pray we seek God’s direction for our lives. I pray each one of us are willing to be clay in the hands of the master poster—our Father in heaven. Be yourself. Be who God intended you to be. Be clay in his hands. Be willing to follow him.

Isaiah 64:8

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.

We are the clay, you are the potter;

we are all the work of your hand.

Light or Dark

Do you prefer the light or the dark? Do you prefer good or evil? How do you put your preferences into action? Are you fearful of the dark and evil? Do you stand in awe of God’s light and goodness?

We often see things in simple terms. There is light and dark. There is good and evil. We see it in our movies. There are the good guys and the bad guys. There is the person in the right and those who would do them wrong.

In some ways, movies and television mirror our society. The basics are there, though Hollywood adds a life’s worth of peripheries in a two-hour movie. But in the end, we all see good and bad in our lives, and we can identify with the characters on the screen.

Let’s go back to our preferences. If our preference is to be in the light, we need to spend more time with God. He is the true light. In fact, his light is far brighter than anything we have ever seen. It is brighter than our sun. His light dispels all darkness.

On the other hand, if we prefer darkness, there is no need to engage with God. However, that doesn’t mean he won’t engage with us. God engages with everyone, whether they recognize it or not. At some point, we all come into the light. The darkness that surrounds us will be repealed and tossed away.

God’s desire is that we choose to be in the light of Jesus Christ. We come into that light as we come to know Him. When we fully know Him, there is no need to fear evil anymore. We live in the comfort and peace of knowing Jesus has overcome all evil.

I pray we all seek to be in the light of Jesus. I pray we shun the evil of this world. I pray each one of us chooses to know Jesus fully and step into the light He provides for us. Choose light over dark. Choose good over evil. Choose to know Christ. Step into the light. Feel His love for you. Rid yourself of fear.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.