Whose Life is it Anyway
For my birthday, I bought The Message version of the Bible. I told myself as soon as I got to the New Testament in my current reading plan I would stop reading in the NIV and switch over to this one. I admit I took my sweet old time getting there. I was scared. It almost felt like I was doing something wrong reading any other version than the one I had been reading for as long as I could remember. But a funny thing happened as I was reading this story-like version - in my head, I heard the words in the NIV. I could relate and still do, the words I've read and heard, over and over, for the past few decades. That is when I was able to really open myself up to what I was reading. Then today, it hit me. I am still learning God's truths, and the post you are about to read is what He revealed to me this morning.
I've often looked for the "more" in life. What can I do to be "more"? I want to be better than I was the day before. This constant striving to become. I've focused the better part of the last twenty years trying to obtain this "more" that, in all honesty, I could never quantify. It was always out of reach. However, in the last few months, something has started to fall into place and the "more" looks a whole lot like less. I am going to break this down into an object lesson, if I may.
Matthew 10:24a - The Message - "A student doesn't get a better desk than her teacher."
Lesson - This life isn't about me.
If any of you have read The Purpose Driven Life, you know this is what is on day one in the book. I did, read it that is, years ago when it was all the rage. I didn't learn from it, grasp its inherent truth, and I certainly didn't understand it for what it fully meant. Despite my horribly slow learning curve, I do believe I get it now - all thanks to reading the same thing I've always read, just in a different version!
You see, all I have ever wanted to do, career-wise, more than anything else, is be a teacher. To me, there is not a more noble, more honorable, more precious career than becoming a teacher. Not that any other kind of job or career isn't necessary or important, only that in my opinion, teachers literally are the bee's knees. I love being able to share something with someone and see that moment where they understand what they are doing, the light bulb goes off in their head, if you will, and they fully grasp what it is they are learning. That moment is truly breath-taking. A person can climb mountains with that level of understanding, they can analyze data and make big decisions, they can negotiate a better contract, they can budget their family finances, they can design a smaller robot to repair a human heart, they can design better city infrastructure, they can do anything, but most importantly they can become the absolute best version of themselves. That, that is what being a teacher means to me. Helping someone become the best version of themselves.
Then this morning, while reading, it dawned on me. I already AM a teacher. Sure, I don't hold that specific title. No, I hold different ones like - wife, mom, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, friend, niece, co-worker, etc. In each of these roles, however, I am a teacher. While there are some lessons specific to each role, there is one lesson that is primary in them all. The one where this life is not about me anyway.
The NIV tells it this way, "The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master." When I take care of my home, when I steward our family finances, when I fix the meals, grow my children, I am a teacher. I am teaching them what being a parent looks like. I am teaching them what sacrificial love looks like, I am teaching them what God is teaching me. Sure, I mess up and get ahead of myself, but just as a child moves from Kindergarten through their Senior year, growth happens. The foundational building blocks are used to create a more thorough understanding.
This life is all about teaching each person who God is. It is about living, breathing His nature. It is about taking the focus off of yourself and loving others for Him; leading them towards His likeness. Sometimes this lesson is understood easily and other times, the lesson, as is my case, takes decades to understand. Honestly, I will likely still muck this up, not because I want to, but because I am only human and I know I can not teach from my own strength. I cannot be who He designed me to be if I don't remain in my seat. After all, "A student doesn't get a better desk than her teacher."
I've often looked for the "more" in life. What can I do to be "more"? I want to be better than I was the day before. This constant striving to become. I've focused the better part of the last twenty years trying to obtain this "more" that, in all honesty, I could never quantify. It was always out of reach. However, in the last few months, something has started to fall into place and the "more" looks a whole lot like less. I am going to break this down into an object lesson, if I may.
Matthew 10:24a - The Message - "A student doesn't get a better desk than her teacher."
Lesson - This life isn't about me.
If any of you have read The Purpose Driven Life, you know this is what is on day one in the book. I did, read it that is, years ago when it was all the rage. I didn't learn from it, grasp its inherent truth, and I certainly didn't understand it for what it fully meant. Despite my horribly slow learning curve, I do believe I get it now - all thanks to reading the same thing I've always read, just in a different version!
You see, all I have ever wanted to do, career-wise, more than anything else, is be a teacher. To me, there is not a more noble, more honorable, more precious career than becoming a teacher. Not that any other kind of job or career isn't necessary or important, only that in my opinion, teachers literally are the bee's knees. I love being able to share something with someone and see that moment where they understand what they are doing, the light bulb goes off in their head, if you will, and they fully grasp what it is they are learning. That moment is truly breath-taking. A person can climb mountains with that level of understanding, they can analyze data and make big decisions, they can negotiate a better contract, they can budget their family finances, they can design a smaller robot to repair a human heart, they can design better city infrastructure, they can do anything, but most importantly they can become the absolute best version of themselves. That, that is what being a teacher means to me. Helping someone become the best version of themselves.
Then this morning, while reading, it dawned on me. I already AM a teacher. Sure, I don't hold that specific title. No, I hold different ones like - wife, mom, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister, friend, niece, co-worker, etc. In each of these roles, however, I am a teacher. While there are some lessons specific to each role, there is one lesson that is primary in them all. The one where this life is not about me anyway.
The NIV tells it this way, "The student is not above the teacher, nor a servant above his master." When I take care of my home, when I steward our family finances, when I fix the meals, grow my children, I am a teacher. I am teaching them what being a parent looks like. I am teaching them what sacrificial love looks like, I am teaching them what God is teaching me. Sure, I mess up and get ahead of myself, but just as a child moves from Kindergarten through their Senior year, growth happens. The foundational building blocks are used to create a more thorough understanding.
This life is all about teaching each person who God is. It is about living, breathing His nature. It is about taking the focus off of yourself and loving others for Him; leading them towards His likeness. Sometimes this lesson is understood easily and other times, the lesson, as is my case, takes decades to understand. Honestly, I will likely still muck this up, not because I want to, but because I am only human and I know I can not teach from my own strength. I cannot be who He designed me to be if I don't remain in my seat. After all, "A student doesn't get a better desk than her teacher."
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