The Bible for Women

The Importance of Teaching

I want to open with an article written by a sweet sister in Christ, Faye.  Faye lost her battle with cancer a couple of years back.  She wrote this article for a church bulletin about ten years ago and I kept it in my files. 

“It’s the little things in life that really get you down.  That is so true.-little aggravations- a tiny speck in your eye, a hangnail, a little run in your stockings, the slow drip of a faucet, a pebble in your shoe, and the worst-sand in your bed!  These are all little aggravations that grate on your nerves.  Then, on the other hand, there are the little things in life that mean so much- a kind word, a knowing smile, the kiss of a two year old, a short note from an old friend.  The list goes on.  Little things do mean a lot.  In the parable of the mustard seed (Matthew 13:31-32), Jesus tells us that from a tiny mustard seed grows a very large plant.  That child we invite to VBS or Sunday School may grow up to be a gospel preacher or the young couple who frequently misses Sunday services may one day teach a Bible class if someone cares enough to invite them home for Sunday dinner.  A hug, a card, a meal, an invitation- small things mean so much.”

Sometimes we don’t realize how our deeds truly make an impact on lives.  Maybe we don’t think some little thing we do made an impression on someone.  And sometimes we may have a very small talent that God can use, but we are tempted to hide it because we think it is too small.  Get your Bible and turn to Matthew 25:14-30.

Someone in this story thought his talent was not enough to make a difference and what happened to that guy?

We may think that only people who seem to have a lot of talent should do all of a particular work but is that what our Savior is telling us in this parable?

We are living in difficult times for our children socially:  Teenage promiscuity, abortion, immodesty, pornography, blatant homosexuality, teachers having sex with children.  And our children with their precious pure souls can see it all with the flick of a remote control.

Ladies, we are at war with the devil.  What are we doing as a society and more importantly as a church to combat these problems?  To defeat the devil we must know the Word.  Our children cannot defeat the devil if they are not taught the Word of God.  Christ himself defeated the devil with the scriptures. 

One way we can keep our children –and when I say our children- I’m talking about all children- from not becoming one of those statistics.  We may think teaching a Bible class is a little thing, but it is essential to their salvation.  We are commanded to teach.

Read Matthew 28:19, 20 
“All the world” starts with our own families and our own church family

Read Psalm 78:3,4,7

Read 2 Timothy 3:15

Do you have a big talent for teaching?  You should be teaching according to Christ.  Do you have a small talent for teaching?  Ask yourselves these questions?

Can you sing songs to babies?  Can you sit in a circle with 5 year olds and teach them Jesus/ What has he done for you?  They want to hear it?  Ms. Debbie taught my six year old in Sunday morning Bible class one quarter.  He came home and told me the story they talked about, he told me what her husband, James did this weekend and sometimes he knew who had surgery before I did.   Little children listen and they love to hear you and stories about your life.  My children have a Spanish teacher at the Christian School they attend.  They tell me all about her life and her culture and her family.  What an impact.

I want to tell you that my husband and I put our congregation to the test.  My husband is now working under a deacon in the children’s education ministry.  We came up with the idea to find teachers for the next four quarters for Sunday and Wednesday night.  We were told by a few that we would have trouble doing that or that it couldn’t be done.  I am happy to report that it took less than two days to find around 40 teachers for our children.  Some said yes immediately, some said they would be willing to try.  Even some of our new Christians said they would be willing to learn by helping another teacher.  How great is that!

Can we say AMEN!

I am so excited that so many from our congregation are willing to take on this work to lead our kids to heaven.  Some people say, well it’s the same old people, well I can tell you that was not the case.  We had veteran teachers, new teachers, young teachers, mature teachers.

You know there was no other teacher persecuted as much as Paul. 

Read 2 Corinthians 11:22-28

None of us can say that we have suffered like this great teacher.

Teaching these little ones will help lead them to heaven.  Do we want our children to go to heaven?  Then according to the proverb, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” means we must lead them. 
To train up means to lead them.

We can all be a part of leading them.

I know all of us can point to a special Bible class teacher growing up or even now that made an influence on us.

I can recall a few.  My father was in the army when I was growing up and when I was about 8 years old, my dad and a another soldier by the name of Duke Brown helped start a congregation in Ansbach, Germany on the base.  I don’t think there were even 15 people to start off with, but I remember two who taught me.  One was Ava Stremmel, who helped me learn how to turn to scriptures and memorize passages at a very early age.  I even kept the certificate that she gave me after I learned 100 verses.  I remember Duke, gathering all of the children in the front of the church building before Bible Study to listen to us recite a verse that we had been given to memorize the week before.  I remember him leading us in the same song every week “Into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart Lord Jesus, Come in today, come in to stay come in to my heart Lord Jesus.”  I’ll never forget it.

I thank all of you who teach now and who are willing to teach and I hope that if you are asked to teach- even if you have the smallest talent, that you will not choose to bury this talent, but rather to use it in some way to help lead a child to heaven.  There will be a child who stands before a group of ladies, or a young man who preaches a sermon, or a young mother or even a children’s Bible class teacher who will remember you for it, appreciate you for it and hopefully listen to the call to teach as well.  When we are standing in heaven surrounded by those whom we taught the story of David and Goliath or Zacchaeus or Paul we will be glad, no matter what our ailments, or our busy schedules or our small bit of talent and I am certain that Christ will bless us richly for it.

Margie Busby

© Copyright 2006, www.bibleforwomen.com