Dear Teacher in Christ, you are changing lives and shaping destinies

Dear beloved Teacher in Christ,

Greetings and grace to you in our Lord Jesus.

I write to you with sincere gratitude and deep honour for the work you do and the role you play in the lives of young people all across our nation.

Few jobs demand so much on a daily basis as that of a teacher. Yet even fewer jobs offer such a depth of influence and impact on young lives.

As a former teacher myself, I understand the weight of responsibility that a teacher carries each day.

From rigorous lesson preparation to answering totally-unrelated-to-the-lesson questions about life, from late-night marking of exam scripts (“How can they get these questions wrong when I clearly went through them?”) to managing your students’ emotional states (and sometimes their parents’ as well), you are so often called to be both a specialist and a generalist, a figure of authority and a sincere friend, all at once.

Once a school teacher, God called Ps Zac out of full-time teaching to pioneer a church 15 years ago. Source: Hearts Alive Church

My dear friend, you are not merely a teacher. You are a life-changer. You shape destinies. You transform the futures of countless lives.

You speak faith and hope that inspire hearts, you display strength and resilience that impart tenacity and discipline, and you shine light into young lives who are still finding their way in this world.

So very often, you may feel that your acts of love and sacrifice are unnoticed. But I want you to know that they matter. They really do.

Your work is not in vain

As a student, I will never forget what my Physics teacher did for me when I was 16.

I was gloriously failing my Physics exams with E8s and F9s just before my “O” Levels, and I could not care less. I had given up all hope on Physics – and I was certain Physics had given up on me too.

But not Mdm Loh. I knew I was not destined to be the next Einstein, yet she believed in me.

She knew I could do better. She knew the grades I was capable of, so she made me come back to school on Saturday mornings to confront the topics that I had failed. 

I vividly recall her patiently coaching me through Ten Year Series questions, and I vividly recall feeling miserable while wondering how much more the Ministry of Education (MOE) paid her to do this for me.

Today, if you ask me about the many Physics concepts I “mastered” in those sessions, you would be sorely disappointed.

But two things have stayed with me all these years. 

1. I eventually got an A2 for my “O” Levels Physics (just one grade away from Einstein level).
2. I marvelled at what Mdm Loh saw in me and did for me, long before I ever believed I could do it.

Years later, when I became a teacher myself, I learnt that MOE does not pay teachers extra for giving up their Saturdays. Mdm Loh sacrificed countless mornings simply because she cared.

A teacher reflects Christ’s love

The Bible tells us in Romans 5:6-8:

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Indeed, the Word of God tells us that while we were still “utterly helpless”, Christ already believed in us. While we were far from upright, Christ already came for us. While we were still wretched sinners, He sacrificed Himself for us.

When I meditate on the above verses, I think back on that season with Mdm Loh.

Indeed, the journey of a teacher may so very often be full of sacrifices, so under-appreciated and so difficult at times … yet teachers never stop giving.

Teachers keep going the extra mile and never cease to keep believing in their students.

Today, as a teacher in Christ, may you be reminded that your faithfulness in your work is never in vain.

God is using your passion and burden to impart revelations of His love in the lives of your students.

Your constant giving of yourselves will one day point many young ones to the realisation of a greater agape from the One who gave His Son to them.

Colossians 3:23-24 says:

“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”

Yes, not all will appreciate what you do for them and how you love them today. But as you live out your calling as a teacher for Jesus, be assured: God can — and God will — use your offering for His glory.

As I look back on my own season as a teacher, I am thankful for the many lives I was able to touch. While I was tasked with teaching certain academic subjects, God had so much more in mind: He brought me there to touch lives.

It was when he was an educator that Ps Zac felt many young people needed to know the transforming love of God. Source: Hearts Alive Church

In the same way, know that God did not call you to be a teacher merely to impart knowledge.

My dear friend, you are called to touch lives and shape destinies for Christ. You are called to display His sacrificial love to young people who have yet to know Him.

One day, your season as a teacher will end too. One day, you will no longer be delivering lessons in a classroom of boisterous students. Yet until then, know this: You have been raised by the Master for a time such as this.

You may have chosen to be a teacher, but God was also the One who chose you to do this. He was the One who placed you exactly where you are, perfectly positioned to fulfil His work in this generation for His glory.

Thank you for everything you do and for everything you are to your students.

Thank you for answering the call to be a teacher in Christ.

Thank you for stepping forward to transform a generation together.

I pray that as you persevere in the Lord’s call upon your life, His grace will refresh and strengthen you each day. In times of weariness and discouragement, may His power be made perfect in your weaknesses.

May His wisdom, peace and joy daily saturate your soul, even as He leads you to fulfil all His purposes right where He placed you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

With you in our Father’s love,
Zac

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