The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged. 2 Timothy 2:24, NASB

When did you first realize you were called to teach?

For some, that realization came in a classroom. For others, it showed up much earlier in life in the way you explained things to friends, helped younger children learn, or naturally guided others with patience and encouragement.

For me, teaching has always been part of who I am. At family gatherings, I would gather the younger children and organize games. I loved babysitting and telling stories, even sharing Shakespeare with children who were willing to listen. Teaching was never something I only did; it was something God had woven into me.

Even during the twelve years I stepped away from the classroom to raise my children, I never stopped being a teacher…

…because teaching is not confined to a school building.

Recently, I helped someone at the library learn how to use the computer to find a book. Another day, while getting my nails done, I overheard a teenager feeling uncertain about her future, and I found myself helping her think through career possibilities and how to begin researching them.

Those moments reminded me that the gift of teaching shows up everywhere.

God gives spiritual gifts not simply for our profession, but for His purposes. The gift of teaching is not only about lesson plans, grading papers, or managing a classroom. It is about helping others understand, grow, and see what they could not yet see on their own. It is about offering wisdom, guidance, and truth in everyday moments.

And what a gift that is.

If God has given you the gift of teaching, you carry it wherever you go. In your classroom, at your dinner table, in conversations with neighbors, in chance encounters with strangers.

Dear educator, your calling does not begin when the school bell rings and end when it dismisses. It is woven into your life.

Teach faithfully wherever God places you.

Lord, make me an excellent teacher in every space You place me, not just the ones that look like classrooms. Teach me to teach what matters to You, not merely what impresses others. Thank You for trusting me with this gift; help me never to take it lightly. And Father, for every reader who is still discovering the gifts You’ve placed within them, open their eyes. Grant each of us what we need to do the work You have prepared for us. Amen.

Copyright Cheryl Skid. 

Cheryl is a retired Christian Educators member from Missouri.