Practical Living in an Impractical World: Romans 12:4-8 Gift of Teaching.

In this section of Romans 12, we talked briefly about the gift of prophecy and the gift of service. The next gift mentioned by Paul is the gift of teaching. I think we can all agree that there are people in this world who are gifted teachers. I’ve had several over the years and still come across some from time to time. I believe when the Church was in its infancy, the HOLY SPIRIT gave special gifts to various Christians for the purpose of getting the Church off to a strong start. Those gifts were vital because they did not have the full and complete New Testament. JESUS was still leading HIS chosen few into ALL TRUTH through the HOLY SPIRIT as promised. So yes, I believe there were individuals who had the special gift of teaching. Yes, I keep mentioning special gifts. Having said that, there are people today who are gifted at teaching in a public setting. There are those who teach young children. There are some who are good at teaching teens and young college age people. There are those who are gifted teachers of more mature folks. Some teachers can do it all regardless of age. That’s public teaching in Bible classes and public preaching. Not everyone can do that. Not everyone should do that. I have known, personally, a few people who taught Bible classes who should not have been doing that. Especially those who obviously didn’t know their Bible, or who were harsh, argumentative, and demanding that their students accept the teacher’s opinions without question. That is a problem. But there is another type of teacher. The important everyday teacher. The parent who teaches their own children in the home. There’s the person who speaks wise words of truth to a family member, friend, or even a stranger, when needed. There are also those who teach by their actions. Paul reminded Titus to show himself a model of good works as well as teaching with integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned. (Titus 2:7-8) So, by our actions, we are ALL TEACHERS. Let’s all teach through our living.

Russell Ashby