One of the greatest and most life-changing teachings on the Bible that I have ever experienced in my life was not done in an auditorium filled with people. Nor was it done in a classroom with other students. It was not done by a renowned Bible scholar or minister. This teaching was done around a simple little table with a Formica top. There were three chairs around this table which was set against a wall. And on the wall, lined up with the center of the table, was a time clock for employees to punch in and out of work. At this table during a break, a new graduate of our ministry’s foundational class on the Bible shared some of the greatest truths I had ever heard to that point in my life.
Following that she continued to give me answers to questions about God, salvation, life, and death—questions that I had pondered for years! She shared her life with me and what she had recently learned and understood from the Bible herself. The simple truths and heart that she shared changed my life forever and helped set me on a course of deliverance and blessing that I continue to benefit from thirty years later. She was thrilled by my excitement and response to what she taught. I was full of joy and thankful to God and to her for teaching me the Word. And I wanted to be able to do the same for others. She invited me to her home fellowship where I had exposure to others who knew God’s Word. They helped me to become more knowledgeable and understand the truth to the end that I began to teach it.
What about you? Would you like to have a life-changing impact on others by teaching them God’s Word? You too can teach God’s Word. Receive God’s Word with meekness, retain it with conviction, and release it with boldness by sharing what you know. And you will grow in your ability and understanding of what is involved in teaching.
Looking back at when I first received the greatness of God’s Word, I must have been a real sponge. I absorbed everything that was made available to me. I was meek to the Word of God and to those who shared it with me.
James 1:21:
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
Meekness is humility of mind in the sense that you desire to learn. The people who taught me had information about God and His Word that I needed and wanted. I was very attentive to everything they taught me. I would go home and look up verses that were shared with me. I was a willing student. I wanted to know. To teach God’s Word you first have to know God’s Word. You cannot teach what you do not know. God is ready, willing, and able to teach you if you are willing to receive with meekness.
Psalms 25:9:
The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.
Psalms 86:11:
Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear [reverence] thy name.
God’s will for His people is not only that they receive salvation and wholeness, but also that they come to a knowledge of the truth as stated in I Timothy 2:4:
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
God’s desire for His people is that they are saved and that they have an accurate, precise, and thorough knowledge of the truth. This knowledge comes from receiving the accurate Word taught with meekness and keeping it in our minds and lives—retaining it. Retaining, or remembering, God’s Word is a vital key that will help you teach God’s Word to others. As we retain or hold the Word of God that we have been taught, we build a repertoire of truth in our minds that overflows into our daily living. We will speak truly, deal truly, and live truly. This is holding the Word in our minds and living it.
Titus 1:9:
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
Once I heard the Word of God, I recognized it as the truth, and no one, absolutely no one, was going to talk me out of it. I held it tight to myself as something of great value. The Word must be held fast, or retained, before you can hold it forth in teaching. As you retain it, you grow in your ability and understanding of the Word and what is involved in teaching. It takes a little time, but with patience, the Word we retain and live will bring forth fruit.
Luke 8:15:
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Fruit is indicative of quality of life. We bring forth fruit with patience. As we with patience hold on to God’s powerful Word, it changes us from the inside out. The quality of our lives with the truth of God’s Word so vitally alive and evident in us is a powerful example, or “sermon,” that people will see. This will certainly open doors for others to inquire of you the reason for this great quality they see. Then when they ask, you have an open door to teach….
This is an excerpt from the March/April 2011 issue of The Way Magazine.
Copyright© 2011 by The Way International. All rights reserved.
For more information on subscribing to The Way Magazine, Click Here