‘Teachers’ – Katheryn Sole
Trying to find inspiration for this devotional, I took my colleague’s advice and looked at the Lectionary passages for September.
I stumbled across James 3:1. It reads:
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly
As a qualified teacher, I wish I had known that 18 years ago when I chose to train in the profession! Some of you will say, ‘James is talking about teaching in a Christian context.’ But, as a Christian, I believe everything we do is in a Christian context.
As a teacher, I had the power to either encourage or admonish people, depending on how I conducted myself and spoke to those in my care.
Many of us recall our favourite teacher who inspired us in a way that no other teacher could. But, when I qualified and got a job teaching art in a women’s prison, I found many of the women I taught had very negative experiences of education. My colleagues and I had to do a lot of unpicking before the women could trust us enough to open themselves up to learning. In this role, I was not just a teacher, but also a counsellor, a problem solver and an encourager.
I think about our wonderful Sycamore Tree Tutors who have one of the most challenging volunteer roles within Prison Fellowship – guiding people in prison through the programme, in the hope that they will make some positive changes in their lives. This is why it is important to soak the Tutors in prayer while they are teaching, giving them support and championing them as they perform this important role.
For those of us who find ourselves in a teaching role and for those of us who encourage and support people in other ways, what can we do to build ourselves up? I believe the New Living Translation of Psalm 51:10 -13 has the answer:
Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.
Kathryn Sole is PF’s Quality Assurance Internal Moderator.
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