One of the greatest gifts I have received from the Lord has been that of a teacher. A role that I never thought I would play. Many teachers I have talked to over the years told me that they knew they would become a teacher from the time they were five or six years old.

Not me. I wanted no part of it. James 3:1 says, “Not any of you should become teachers, my fellow believer, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” Teaching is a necessary and valuable part of life. We come into this world ignorant, and we must be taught: language proficiency, motor skills, cultural norms, social customs, manners, moral values, and a host of other things.

Since teaching is a key element in acquiring information and developing knowledge, it is no wonder that the Bible has so much to say about teaching. Teaching is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that the logical end of effective teaching is that the pupil becomes like his/her teacher.

To really appreciate teaching, I believe it has to be a calling. Why, because you are never going to get paid enough to go through the grief and toils that today’s teacher has to endure. It is not an eight-hour job where you punch in at a certain time and go home when you are supposed to, and start afresh the next day.

Many would say that it is a thankless job where you are merely going through a ritual hoping that you will last until the school year ends, and you get a contract for the next year and so on until you either get fired or fed up and quit.  

One of the greatest gifts I received while fulfilling the role of a teacher was not a monetary gift. It was from one of my students who stayed in trouble all of the time at school and at home. He once emptied his mother’s checking account.  Many days my soul was tried.

At the end of the first semester around the time when students were getting ready to go home for a long break and enjoy being away from school, he gave me an envelope with a greeting card that was hand made.

On the card was a cartoon and the words scribbled at the bottom that said, “I know I was terrible. Thank you for your compashion (compassion).”