They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” John 3:26-30, NIV
Teaching is an overwhelming calling. Sometimes, at the end of a hard day or week, we say aloud or think silently, I am an intelligent person. Why am I doing this? I could do something else.
And we can do something else. But God has called us to teach. And given us a strategy: instead of pondering upon I/me or s/he/they, focus on HE: Jesus.
When I was teaching high school, every year, every class had at least one challenging student. (Occasionally, I had an entire class of them.) When they were absent, everything was more peaceful and productive. These students could quickly cause me to rack up a number of “I could do something else” days.
So, every day, I prayed for each one. Not for their absence, but for their well-being and joy in life. That Jesus ministers to them, whether they realize it or not. And they did not change. But I did. And everything went better.
While I know we will still have our fair share of “I could do something else” days, my hope is that we can all become less as Christ becomes greater in our respective classrooms. And as we decrease, and Christ increases in our classrooms, we can have more days and experiences after which we tell ourselves, This is why I teach.
Holy Spirit, when we become overwhelmed and discouraged as teachers, please prompt us to become smaller as Jesus becomes bigger in our calling as teachers. Amen.
Copyright Judith Landrum, Ph.D.
Judith served as a teacher and dean in both public schools and private, Christian universities for over 40 years and has published numerous articles on literacy-related topics.
