Being Like My Teacher

 Luke 6:40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.

There is no doubt about the effect a good teacher has on his students.  

As I look back over my own experiences with teachers, I can see how much influence some of them had on me, either in how I understand a fact or in how I respond to an issue. 

⦿ Olive was my 7th grade English teacher. She instilled the love of grammar in me. She is the main reason I pursue correct grammar in writing and speaking.  

⦿ Shirley, my librarian mentor, is the one who showed me how to use my interest in organization of information as a tool to serve the Lord.  

⦿ Doris, my mentor when I joined the Auxiliary of the Gideons International, inspired me with confidence to be a leader through my Auxiliary ministry opportunities.  

⦿ Last, but certainly not least, my parents are the ones who showed me how to be willing to do, to TRY, anything as a way to honor God, even if I wasn’t the best at a particular activity.  

All of these teachers or mentors influenced me in some way to strive to be better, to do better. I see a bit of each of them in me now, all these years later.

Which reminds me that as I allow Christ to teach me, I will emulate more and more of Him as well, and that should be my main goal. 

I must keep learning how to be more like Jesus. 

I will keep learning how to show the people around me what Jesus is like.

I want to be like my teachers.

The Spiritual Life Cycle

Ezekiel 6:9b-10 They will loathe themselves for the evil they have done and for all their detestable practices.  And they will know that I am the Lord; I did not threaten in vain to bring this calamity on them.

I think sometimes we do not think our sin is very bad because we do not have a clear picture of how holy God is.  

 As we grow in our knowledge and understanding of God, we also grow in our knowledge and understanding of our sinfulness in comparison to His holiness. As that happens, we are more and more likely to loathe our sinfulness.  In doing so we then grow in our knowledge and understanding of God.  

This is the cycle of spiritual growth: 

     Our understanding of God makes us understand sin ...

          ... which makes us understand our sinfulness ...

               ... which makes us understand God ...

                   ... which makes us understand more of our sinfulness ... 

                         ... which makes us understand more of God’s holiness … 

And so we continue to grow more spiritually as this cycle continues to operate in our lives.