Daily devotions: Helping Our Teachers - Isaiah 65:23

Isaiah 65:23    They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. 

Teachers are amongst the most undervalued professional people in our society. They devote themselves to the betterment of our communities by trying to educate the hearts and minds of the next generation. They put in long hours during the day, work at home at night as well as the weekends, and have to deal with a constant stream of parental demands. It’s not a career that anybody can do; you have to be specially called if you want to teach.

In my opinion, helicopter parents are currently the biggest blight on producing great academic students in our society. They constantly ‘hover’ over their kids and expect classroom teachers to shape the curriculum to suit their child’s individual needs. When their kids misbehave or neglect to do their homework, these poor parents berate the classroom teacher rather than deal with the source of the trouble: their own kids. Because of their constant and unnecessary intervention, they doom their kids to misfortune. Even when the kids go to college, these doted parents are still interfering. In my opinion, they are the Number 1 reason that academic standards are declining across the United States and in other western nations. A whole generation of children is going to miss out on advancing their peer group academically because they will not be able to think or fend for themselves.

So, here’s the simple lesson for today: if you want things to get better in your community, support your local teachers.

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, help us to value the teachers among us, both in church and at school. Grant us the courage to support and sustain them, even when our natural inclination is to excuse and make allowances for our kids and grandkids. Enable us to re-enable our teachers to grow great leaders, innovators, dreamers and visionaries so that the next generation will be blessed beyond measure. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.