My teacher

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. - Galatians 3v24-25

I love teaching. I really, really love teaching. I love everything about it. I miss chalk dust. As a pastor now I love teaching in this capacity, but I do sometimes miss the school classroom. I miss the buzz at the beginning of school, the busyness of Christmas activities, and the melancholy of the end of the year. My wife and I were senior class (last year) sponsers for years and I miss the planning and preparation for graduation. I even miss knowing that I would miss those who were heading out into the world.

I am doing a different kind of teaching now – I teach literacy one on one in a programme called Youthreach. It is for students who have left secondary school. I love the one on one teaching because I really get to know each student.

That begins to bring me to my point. One of my favourite parts of teaching is the teacher/student relationship. After all these years I still have contact with some of my students from when I taught school. I have several former students from Youthreach who contact me and always approach me when I see them. There is special bond in a proper student/teacher relationship. Though the teacher or tutor no longer has any kind of authority, a deep level of respect remains. A wonderful example of this is Helen Keller and her teacher Anne Sullivan. Their relationship did not end when Miss Sullivan stopped her official teaching. Helen no longer had to submit to Miss Sullivan’s authority, but she held a deep respect to her.

And so it is with the Law. The Law was our tutor, our schoolmaster, our teacher. God used it it to teach us that our works could never appease a holy God. It taught us our need for Christ. He taught us the need for faith instead of works.

The Law is no longer my teacher. Does that mean I cast it off completely? I don’t think so. The Law did so much for us. It still deserves our respect and consideration. The Law was never negated; it simply lost its authority in Christ.

Thank God for my Teacher.