Will You Be My Teacher?

“… teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you;…” – Matthew 28:20


I was checking out at a department store recently and came in contact with a sweet lady who struck up a conversation about one of the baby items I’d purchased. She began to tell me about a couple who nearly lost their baby until she began to talk to them about praying God’s word over their unborn child. We talked for only 2-3 minutes while she was checking me out. As I went to the car it dawned on me that she had not only been my cashier, she’d also been my teacher.

As we go through the day, we come in contact with many people who are our teachers. It’s God’s design for us to learn from each other. Some teachers are as pleasant as my cashier and others…not so much.

What about the insistently whining child that was in the cart ahead of me? All that complaining and begging made me want shove the chocolate bar he wanted into his little mouth and snatch up his mom and give her a lesson in child rearing! But did I learn something? Yes. I learned patience. I’m praying I won’t have to have any refresher courses on this one, but I’d bet they’re on God’s agenda for me.

Just as others are teaching us, we are teaching as well. Someone once said, “You may be the only Bible someone will ever read.” Just as children learn to walk and talk by watching and listening to those around them, others are watching and listening each day to learn from us how to deal with the events of life itself.

Are we teaching self control, or how to lose our temper?

Are we teaching compassion or selfishness?

Are we teaching them to be “harmless as doves” or are they learning to use words that crush the heart?

I passed a church sign today that says it all. “Watch your step….everyone else does.”