This morning I was reminded of the blessings I have received from being a teacher of children. There have been a wide range of obvious blessings – from the momentary satisfaction of seeing comprehension illuminate their eyes, to the lasting sense of fulfillment from knowing successful adults whom one has helped to develop.

The less obvious blessings are the ones that occupied my mind this morning… for example, the candor of children’s casual feedback, which can be just eye-opening or seriously conscience-pricking for an adult. Adults use filters that often strain out ‘the meat of the matter’, but young children don’t. Remember the story of the emperor’s new clothes? It was a child’s wide-eyed, shocked outburst that forced the adults to throw off their blinders and their gags, to see, acknowledge and respond sensibly to the nakedness of the emperor. This fable brings to mind Isaiah’s prophesy about the time when “a little child will lead them” (Is. 11:6), and reminds us that the notion of a child leading the way is not far-fetched. Yeshua Himself said to His adult disciples as they vied for prominence in His Kingdom, “Unless you turn and become like children, you shall never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Another of the less obvious blessings I received from teaching children and youth was the enhancement and strengthening of my own character. Before being trained as a teacher and gaining some experience in the field, I was a very shy young person myself. No one outside my family would have been likely to hear my voice. Especially as a teen I suffered from a severe lack of self confidence, which may eventually have been resolved as I matured, but its resolution was definitely helped along by my training and activities as a teacher.

To keep this post short, I will mention just one other blessing that I received from having taught children. It’s the blessing that prompted me to write today’s blog, and this is it: having to teach on a topic compelled me to ensure my own grasp of it, improving my own recall of its details, and the value of this benefit is still felt with respect to basic ‘Bible Knowledge’ long after the benefits with respect to some other subjects have lost their significance. The traditional Christian school system in which I worked for many years afforded me the on-the-job privilege of consistently hiding God’s word in my heart as I helped students to do the same.

The Scripture that the Holy Spirit brought to mind this morning, along with the memory of having rehearsed, analyzed and memorized it with at least three year-groups of upper elementary students was this: Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” SELAH.