Hi, my name is Miri and I'm going to be continuing to do a study on the redemptive spiritual gifts that are found in Romans 12, 6-8. If you would like to go back to the very beginning, if this is the first video that you're seeing, I would recommend stopping it and going back to the very beginning and seeing the original videos and then going in order. It'll help to give you some clarity and give you just a foundation for the information that I'm sharing. I'm going to dive right in today. We're going to be talking about the teacher, which is the third gift of the seven listed in Romans 12. And we are going to talk about how the teacher has the principle of responsibility, which is ironic because they sometimes have a selective responsibility where they'll choose to.
be responsible for some things and other things they kind of let go. And so this is an area that God wants to give them responsibility and wants them to live it and have it be a part of every part of their lives, to take responsibility for the things that he's calling them to be responsible for. So we'll kind of see that play out as we talk about today.
They need to validate truth for themselves and they love knowledge. And so as we go into this gift, Again, I want to remind you that there's going to be a lot of things that you might identify with and be like, yeah, I love knowledge and I love to validate truth or whatever it is. And that's awesome because there's going to be things that cross over that you're going to do, even if it's not your gift. And so this gift is my husband. So I'm very well acquainted with a teacher.
And there are a lot of things that we're going to talk about today that I'm like, man, I feel like I do this more than he even does. You know, like I love. reading my Bible and finding new things and wanting to share them with everybody. And so I think that as we're reading, there'll be things that you might really identify with, but look at the gift as a whole, because the teacher gift as a whole is not at all me.
Like the things that they are meant to do and the way that they interact with the world and with people and with God is very different than what motivates me in the way that I interact with the world. So even though I may love to... devour information and just to find as much information as I can so that I can share it.
My motivation in doing that is different than what a teacher's motivation is. And I also am a licensed teacher, or I was before I had kids, and so some of you may be teachers or you might teach Bible studies in your churches. and just because you have a passion for teaching does not necessarily mean you are the gift of the teacher so there is some differences you could be the gift of teacher and also be a teacher or you could be a prophet and love to teach because prophets are amazing teachers you could be an exhorter and love to teach or a giver you could be any of the gifts and be in a position where you're teaching which is one of the offices that are held um in the five-fold office gifts so i just want to clarify that even though you may be passionate about teaching and you might love information and knowledge, recognize the gift as a whole to see if it really resonates with your spirit in the way that you interact with the world and with God. So there might be some things that you agree with and some things that you don't, but it is good for all of us to want to teach and to want to present information and define information. So the teacher gift is going to tap into the truth of God.
That is what they are the most concerned with. Whatever is being spoken, whatever is being preached, whatever information, whether it be about politics or sports or any information, not just biblical information. They want to know the truth and they're very concerned with if things are accurate.
So they want firsthand details. They value precision and sharing details. They. will give you way more details than you'll ever want to hear in the conversations that they share. So when they're telling a story, they will give you all of these details that I'm often telling my husband.
They don't need to know all these things, but he can't help himself. He has to tell you all the details because he would want to know all the details. And so that is, if that sounds like something you would do or someone you know, they're very detail oriented. They're usually articulate and good at writing.
They're excellent writers and they process and make decisions slowly and safely. And they can slow down impulsive people who jump to conclusions and they can frustrate visionaries. And so this is so funny that God would pair me with a teacher because they really do help the personalities and the giftings like mine that are...
Very quick thinkers, very quick processors. So the Prophet that we talked about a couple videos ago, they're also very quick, very fast processors. And so they will get information and quickly jump to the next conclusions and sometimes accurately, but sometimes not accurately because they're moving so quickly that they will just plow through with whatever the new idea is. And my gift can also be like that where I just grab hold of something and just start running with it.
And so the teachers are positioned by God. They are placed in the midst of all of the gifts to slow us down, to help us to really evaluate what we're thinking, what we're doing. what we're preaching, what we're saying, what we're teaching, like they bring clarity and they really bring pause and they help us not to jump to wrong conclusions, not to accept information blindly. Like if you tell them information, like some, if you're watching this right now and you're a teacher, you would be wanting to really evaluate everything that I'm saying. You're going to want to go check this information.
You're going to want to check it next to scripture and really make sure that what is being taught. Lines up with the truth of God's word and so these are amazing people to have within the body of Christ But if you maybe aren't super mature in your faith And this is your gift you would do the same with politics if someone shares information if they share You know whatever charts of data you would be skeptical They're much more skeptical than other giftings I would say and they really want to validate the truth and make sure that it is accurate and they're not quick to jump into anything whether it be a new hobby, a new activity, planning a vacation. They just do everything so much slower than my gift would be.
So if you're a prophet, this is usually what... determines because prophets and teachers can be very similar and so i'm reading some of the stuff here that really sounds like me and they are very similar but the difference is the rate and the speed that they process and that they move forward with new ideas and that they accept new things they're just much slower to do that and to um just be okay with new things so they're very much tradition holders um they're um i'll get to that a minute so they are a very safe person emotionally and is sometimes confused with the gift of mercy. The difference is that the teacher tends to be led in their head and the mercy is led by their heart. So we always laugh because my husband could be anywhere at school, walking down the street, sitting on a bench, and he'll just be sitting there and some complete stranger will come up to him and start having a conversation with him and very quickly start sharing personal information with him and just kind of pour out their heart to him.
And he's like, not asking them questions. He's not probing or prying or like trying to get to the heart. They just will openly tell him things.
So like if he's in the, on a car ride with somebody, like a stranger in a cab or whatever, like people will just tell these teachers information and open up to them very quickly because they have a presence, an air about them that is safe emotionally for you to speak to. They're the most non-judgmental of the gifts. So they... can be told any crazy stories, any amount of sin in your life, and they're not going to judge you. And this gift is represented by the Levites, the priesthood and the Levites.
And so if you think about the way that the priest operated, the way that they still are operating in some of their synagogues is that they stay in the synagogue. They're not out in the streets with like blowhorns yelling at people. They're not trying to draw people to them. they literally wait inside of the synagogue and people come to them and then they reconcile them back to god and so they carry this with them everywhere that they go whether they know it or not these are people walking around that have no relationship with jesus and people are doing this to them they're going up to them and just sharing their hearts with them because they carry this mantle of this priesthood that they don't even realize they have and so if you are a teacher maybe you know someone you're starting to recognize like yeah that definitely happens to them. But this also, the same kind of thing can happen to a mercy, where people will just pour out their hearts to mercies and will tell them the deep burdens of their hearts because they're such a safe place emotionally.
They're so accepting, they're so loving, and they're very easy to talk to. And they're much more led by their heart, where the teacher is much more led by their head. So they will use logic and reason to help reconcile someone back to the Lord.
They'll use scripture, they'll... I just want to help reconcile whomever's talking to them, but it's not from a place of emotion and like heartstrings. It's more of, how can I help you and let me solve the problem kind of thing.
So they may think that knowledge can save. They're the types of people that will write books and think like, I've given you the information, like you should know what to do with it now. Like there doesn't need to be more steps, like just read the information. Because for them, oftentimes, once they read it and it.
resonates with their spirit it will forever be with them like they're not going to turn on whatever it is that they have decided is the truth. So they may take a lot longer to become believers because they need to know that they know that they know and have no doubts before they give their life to Christ. But once they do, they are forever his. They will never turn back like they're just about and whatever it is, like if they say they're going to do something, they will do it.
So if they say they're going to be somewhere, they will be there. So they often say no to a lot of things because they don't want to say something and not follow through, which is a great quality. But that is also going back to the knowledge can save is that they just want to make sure like once other people know information, if they believe it, then it should transform their lives because that's the way they are.
When they hear information that is accurate and true, it transforms their lives. So it's easy for them to project that to other people. They can insist on a cumulative and linear sequence. So they want all of the information. but then they want it to be presented in order.
So they'll start at the very beginning and then go in sequence. And so if they're telling a story of their day, they often will go all the way back to the beginning of the day and then give you lots of details leading up to whatever it was that they're going to tell you. And that can be really frustrating to us quick thinking high processors because we're like, we just want to get straight to like this.
the meat like tell me what i need to know i don't need all the details but they love the details and the details are important and vital to them so they share all the details and they want it to be in a linear fashion with all of the things so they are excellent teachers because they give you a ton of information but they start at the beginning so you don't miss anything like they don't want to have any gaps in the information that they give to you so they're excellent teachers because of that um and if you if you look at um the gospel of Luke. Luke is a teacher and his gospel is the most comprehensive, like in detail. He doesn't leave out anything. He wants it to be in order of the sequence of things that happen.
And so they just give amazing accounts. And even just the way that he wrote it is in such an articulate and like great ability to write and communicate. They have a deep commitment to family and tradition.
They prefer classic versus modern. So they often are not fans of whatever the latest music is today. The latest fads and trends are not typically their favorite.
They would prefer more traditional, whatever they grew up with, classic rock or whatever their generation, their personal preferences is usually something that's more original than what's new and hip and, you know, modern. But they also love churches and they prefer things that are more traditional. So I would guess that within our communities teachers would be drawn to the Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church, the Methodist Church, things that are very liturgical, rich in tradition, that have a ton of history.
They feel comfortable there. They feel safe there and they want to invest in those communities. So I think you might see a higher percentage of teachers in those types of communities where they feel much more uncomfortable in a non-denominational free-spirited evangelical type of a church you wouldn't see as many teachers in those settings because of the way that they move they are much more free and they're always accepting new things and they just move at a quicker pace and so all those things kind of go against their natural instinct and that's a whole nother lesson just the idea of the way that the body of christ is kind of divided up into these preferences that we have even as our inner giftings you're going to see that certain giftings are you drawn to certain types of church services and certain types of teaching. And so they would be drawn to Bible reading churches where like scripture is read, there's nothing left out, there's no room for man's interpretation, but just hearing God's word and then the Holy Spirit revealing to you, that would be their preference.
They have, they value reason, accuracy, balance. They are never out of balance. If they start to feel like they're doing too much over here or too much over here, they're so quick to remove things off their plate and to keep it so that they can handle what is happening in their life. So they're not the types of people like we talked about before, the servants, the mercies, the exhorters, and some of the prophets can be very unbalanced because we're trying to do so much and we're running around like chickens with our heads cut off because we want to help in needs of all the other people.
the teachers are much more balanced and much more realistic of what they're capable of doing. So they are they tend to say no more than they tend to say yes. So that would be a balance that they need to learn to say yes more to be more willing to do things that might tilt their balance.
Loyalty is very important to the teacher as well. They are extremely loyal if they're a part of the congregation or a church or a team or whatever it is they are dedicated. Diehard fans or diehard attenders, very loyal.
It would take a lot for them to jump ship of a company, of a church. They are your steady eddies that are not going to be swayed to and fro by their emotions. They're very logical thinkers and they're very steady emotionally as well. They...
They have an ability to produce a superlative, comprehensive document. It's unparalleled, so they are just incredible at writing these types of documents that include everything and that are just all-encompassing. They don't miss any details, so they're the people you want writing up your reports because they do a phenomenal job. Seen as safe because they are patient with those in sin. They are so patient.
My husband is a teacher at a school, so he's like double a teacher. And he is very slow to get angry with his kids and very lax in his classroom management compared to what I would do. So when I used to teach at the same school with him, we'd both be substitute teaching. The kids would be like, man, your wife is strict, but she's nice or whatever. And he is just not.
that strict and even with our kids he's much more relaxed and much more lenient on the things that they're doing he'll come to a head and like a point where he's like all right like that's enough but as a rule he's much more lenient with what he allows to happen around him and so that is something that would also be in contrast to the prophets where they tend to not allow much to go on around them that they don't agree with like they'll be much quicker to eliminate behavior that isn't correct or attitudes or any of those things like they will have a higher standard for behavior within a group of people. And teachers are much more lenient and they're not as they're just not as harsh on it. Even when there is something really bad it'll take them longer to get to the point where they need to be removed from something. They just have a lot more grace and just patience with people.
They have a wonderful sense of humor. They're practical jokers often. They love humor and just being goofy. Tends to be the last one to speak in a group. They will listen and observe and summarize the whole picture.
And this is so beautifully just like laid out every week in our life group because we'll all jump around from all these different topics and everybody's sharing prayer requests and then we're talking about the Bible and about the sermon on Sunday. And it seems to go all over the place. And somehow, at the end of all of it, my husband can... Wrap it all up, like somehow connect everything and wrap it into this pretty little bow and it is amazing and it's something that they're able to do.
They're just able to kind of take everything and bring it to a wrap it up, give it closure. The accuracy is absolutely vital to them. And this was really challenging to me when we first got married because I would like to exaggerate and like tell jokes and just be silly and funny.
But like. I would exaggerate to be funny and he was not about it. Like he would always correct me and like it wasn't that many, it was this many and like just take the wind right out of myself because he would have to correct my jokes and I'm like I'm just telling a joke like it's okay it doesn't have to be like perfect but they can't they can't handle when things are like exaggerated and just completely errant.
Like they need it to be accurate in what the way that they tell stories are so their humor would not be like exaggerated. kind of humor. It would be more like observational, like seeing things that are happening or like wordplay.
They love like puns and like plays on words because they are really good with words. So when people use them in silly ways, that's funny to them because they know what it should be. So anyway, it tends to feed their mind more than their spirit because that is what they, their mode with God is like through their mind more than through their heart or through their spirit. So they really do.
want to read and gather information more than they'd want to just sit and be in God's presence. It's a little bit more challenging for them. Where some of the other gifts, it's harder for them to sit and read God's word because they're much more led by the Spirit and their heart strings.
They want to feel the emotional side of God, so they'll listen to worship music way more than they would sit and read their Bible because that's the way they connect with God more. So both have to do the other. They both have to grow by doing the thing that doesn't come as natural for them.
procrastinates. This could be any gift, but it's accurate of the teacher that they'll procrastinate on certain things. Tends toward selective responsibility. Be extremely responsible and reliable in one area, but not carry that same behavior over to other areas. So they talk about it being like in your office.
You could be really organized and have certain ways that you want things to be done. But then in your home, you may not ever fix this. Things that are broken, like light bulbs will be out, like the doorbell won't work, fences will be broken, and you're just like, man, life doesn't bother you.
Like, certain things will bother you, or other things you just let go. So that's that principle of responsibility, like really recognizing what God has given you responsibility over. And able to hear any kind of sin in people's lives.
And without rejecting them. Non-judgmental. It's such a beautiful thing and it's very contrasting to some of the other gifts because they really can just hear anything and they're not, they won't like disown you, they're not going to bring it up again. They're just like, well, what can we do with that? Like, let's see how we can help you and get you to where you should be.
So they're just amazing people to have in your life because you can tell them all the things that are going on in your mind and in your life. They just want to reconcile you back to the Lord. Calm and crisis.
They are just steady at ease. Like I said before, they're not easily rattled or razzled. Loves pure doctrine, Greek, Hebrew, and searching out truth. And I feel like that's a tricky one because a lot of people are new to their faith and they're not really that interested in pure doctrine and they don't take the time to do that where some other people.
like myself or um i know a lot of prophets that we cannot get enough of god's word and we just want to find it in the original text and do all these things and i'm like maybe i'm a teacher like when i look at that i'm like i do that way more than i feel like my husband does like he's not as interested in doing those things but when there's a discrepancy he is very quick to go to the original places. Like he doesn't want to look up and hear what somebody today is talking about, a situation. He wants to go to older documents, to the actual verses and to find it.
And so there's a lot of different gifts that will love pure doctrine and will want to search out truth. And that's true of the teachers. And it might look different in different ways, depending on how mature you are in your faith. So they have more confidence in the word of God than in the experiences of men.
They would prefer to hear Bible being just read and taught straight from the Bible than hearing people's experiences. Profound loyalty to leaders. So we see this in scripture when Samuel was a teacher and he was very loyal to Saul and Luke to Paul.
And willing to die for convictions. They are devoted. Like I said, once they believe something, they believe it.
They are not going to turn back and they are willing to die for what they believe. Has a burden for spiritual, physical, and natural healing because they represent the priesthood of Levi and in the Old Testament, the priest handled all of that. medicinal care in the Old Testament. So they not only handled the spiritual care, but like the actual health of the community. And so they have this burden for spiritual and physical healings as well.
So they will have that as a mature Christian, that might be something that really burdens them more than the other gifts is like healings of people, physical healings, and also just spiritual healing. So I'm going to give you some of the words that might describe a Christian. um teacher and this gift would also be more introverted than the other gifts they love knowledge and they love information and they love gathering information but depending on where they are spiritually like my husband loves information but the way it plays out a lot of times is in sports he will read and research everything he wants to know about baseball or about football or about whatever team is his favorite team because he's a devout fan and follower of whatever his teams are and so he can just endlessly gather information about those teams and those players and like just so much information. So it doesn't always have to look like they're in the Bible and they just want biblical information.
That's probably what God's design was for them to be able to search out his truth in his word. but it will show itself in different ways in your life. So it might be that you're a hairdresser or you love makeup and you will search and research every type of thing that you could do with makeup and beauty and those types of things. So it can look very different in different people's lives. But this type of gift is more introverted in that they don't ever really wanna share the information.
Where my gifting, when I learn something, I wanna tell everybody, hence why I'm doing these videos. Like, everybody needs to know whatever it is. And that's a God-given like drive in me. Like I can't turn it off no matter what it is.
From the time I was a little girl, I'd want to tell you everything I learned in school that day when I came home. Like just I had to tell somebody where his gift does not feel that urge to tell anybody. So you really have to draw it out of them and give them avenues.
to speak about it. So it's interesting, Luke and Paul, a lot of the New Testament was written by Paul, but it's questioned that a lot of the information Paul talked about and what he preached about was coming from Luke. Luke just didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to be the mouthpiece.
He just would share the information with Paul and Paul would go and tell everybody because he couldn't help it. So I think that you see that today too, where we need to draw out these. introverted teachers and gather this information that they're getting because my husband in church will sit and he'll be listening and Then he just starts typing on his phone and God gives him these downloads from whatever the pastor's preaching It'll be like something totally like tangential like it just goes into this whole other place and becomes like a really deep like profound truth it's like he'll just write all the stuff and just leave it in his phone and not share with anybody so I'm like you have got to read it to me every time we're done with church and I'm gonna share it with our life group I'm gonna make you share with our life like share the information that God's giving them because they don't feel this urge to do that where the Prophet will also get lots of information and they love to seek out information but they also want to share all their information so they would be telling out everybody where the teachers aren't necessarily wanting to tell people all the stuff they're learning. So these are some of the words to describe these more introverted teachers. They would be logical, complex thinkers, curious, well-spoken, calm, independent, and innovative.
They would be detail-oriented, trusted, stable, rule followers, methodical, straight shooting, and genuine. And then we're gonna go into some of the potential weaknesses, which again doesn't define who they are, but it's something that they might struggle with more than some of the other gifts. Although all of us could struggle with these, this is just something they might be a little more prone to.
And it doesn't mean that they struggle with them all the time. It could be from their childhood, they used to struggle with it, but as they matured they don't. Or it might be one that they kind of fall into when they're tired, hungry, you know, not close to the Lord.
these are when our weaknesses are shown is when we are close to the lord and we're not being transformed daily by him so theirs could be passive unwilling to impose responsibility on others they can be soft on sin and too patient with people who are doing wrong and so that's something that my husband will always come about halfway into the first semester of school and be like man i really need to crack down on these kids like i've let them i let them go a little too far you know like he let the rain out a little too much so he's learned over the years now to be much more assertive from the very beginning and to kind of hold that assertiveness because he knows his nature is to be passive and to just kind of let him be but when you do that for too long it really creates more problems so it's something they can learn to manage struggles with issues of timeliness and responsibility and selective areas procrastinates on practical things like taking out the garbage or doing the mowing the grass or whatever it is they just will do simple things that will procrastinate on or have struggles with timeliness and responsibility and I think they often don't even recognize that about themselves because they can be so like strict with their time and be so responsible in certain things so they don't even recognize the areas that they aren't being responsible and that they are kind of letting wax you know because in their minds like no i'm usually on time to things and i do this and i do that and they can be much more methodical than people like me but they also can be late and not be as responsible in certain instances they're not aware of um can be tight-fisted with money or cheap Not trusting God to provide for future needs. So it comes out of a place of fear, not knowing if God will provide or how he will provide. So they'll start to kind of hold on to their money tighter, not willing to share and to be as generous.
That's something that they struggle with is just giving generously, not knowing if they'll get the money back in any capacity or if God will provide for them if they just give this money. That seems not logical because they are such... Practical logical thinkers that they know if I give you my 20 bucks then I don't have this for dinner or lunch or whatever it is. So it's hard for them to just have the faith to give when God calls them to give because they are so much in their head.
Wants to live by sight not by faith. So that goes back to this inner struggle within them. Intimacy and prayer may be a battle, major battle for the teacher.
Just having time and to be alone. with him and to be intimate and to have a heart to heart with God because they can see him in logical and practical ways and through scripture, but to really just spend time with him and to have that emotional connection is a little bit more difficult for them. Poor boundaries, doesn't plan for the future could be a potential weakness that they're They're like so much in the here and now. Like me and my husband are so opposite in this that he is always thinking about the gas, the dinner, the water, the you know what we're doing today is always where his head is like the next couple hours like what are we going to do in two hours what are we going to do in three hours and my head is always in like what are we doing next week and next month and next year like I just am always big picture like far out in advance and will very often miss. planning a meal or planning for what we need right now so they can be the opposite and not plan for their future and not think that far in advance and not realize what they're doing today will affect what happens down the road so that's an area that they struggle but it's beneficial too like it's one of those things where it's a gift and a curse if you don't balance it out can be immobilized by fear or risk.
And so this is also very different from the prophet, where prophets are typically fearless, like they are not afraid to do anything, and a teacher will be much more apprehensive, much slower to try something new, and will be immobilized, like they literally won't do anything if they're... too afraid of what might come or not come. So that is a big difference between the two. So the mature teacher has a relationship with truth and ability to access hidden manna in the word of God and walks in healthy loyalty, releases truth that empowers and equips.
They have an uncanny ability to read the same thing that you're reading and get a whole different thing out of it that's like fresh and new for today. And they have to practice that. It's something that builds and grows and gets stronger the more they do it, but it's a beautiful gift that they have. The carnal teacher, on their worst day, which you can go back and forth between the mature and the carnal, accepts what has been documented.
Ritual stays stuck in the old wine. Arrogant in knowledge, unhealthy loyalty perverted by the enemy to keep them in toxic relationships. So They would be like the Pharisees and the Sadducees that you hear about in the New Testament, where they were very much stuck in the rituals and in the ways that they had always done things. So things that were new and things that God wanted to do that day, and changing the whole system, like turning the whole system on its head, was really difficult for the teacher mindset, because they love the rituals and they love...
things to be systematic and continued. So when there's changes, even to their day, if they are planning in their day for something to go a certain way, and then there's a curveball and that's not happening and now we're doing this, it can be really hard for them. And it's something that they can grow in because my husband has grown immensely in this.
When we first got married, I'm like super free spirited. And so is my whole family. Plans are never the plans.
Like there's always like plan C is what ends up happening, never plan A. So he would prepare for plan A. And be like, this is what's going to happen today.
And then as the day would progress, that never is what happened. And it would, we'd be doing completely different things than what he thought we were doing. And it would really cut against him. It would be so challenging and it was really hard for him to handle how... chaotic it felt because things weren't happening the way he thought they were going to happen and so it's something that I'm so impressed to see how much he's grown in that because now he can go with the flow much easier he can you know make his plans but also be willing for things to change and I think that's an area that all teachers have to grow in is just having that flexibility and not being so strict and stringent into their ideas of the way things need to be done to be open to what God might be wanting to change in the churches and in the world.
So their battlefield would be selective responsibility and just recognizing what is God calling them to be responsible for. Legitimacy lie is I know I have the truth and it gives me power. I am right and have complete and accurate information. So that kind of arrogancy of recognizing or thinking because they do know a lot of things and they have a lot of information because they research a lot of information, but they know all of the things.
So they have to be careful not to be arrogant about the truth and the information that they have. Biblical examples of teachers are Luke that we talked about, Daniel, Isaiah, Levi, and Samuel. And the birthright of a teacher.
This is what they can do that none of the other gifts. had the ability to do as well is to know God's deep truth and to experience him. And so it's easy for them to learn the deep truths of God and to like be immersed in his word and to just discover things about God that other people don't discover.
But to experience him is much harder for them and they have to. really position themselves in ways that they can experience him and it can't only be through his word and through their mind it has to be through their senses and through their spirit and through relationships there's so many ways that God wants them to experience him and so that is what their birthright is their creation day the day that that lines up with their gift would be the separation of sea from dry land which was the third day So plants and animals. So this gifting draws nutrients out of God's bird, brings life to dead seeds, and starts growth process where there was no growth before. They have this ability to create growth and to bring life into things that are dead or that have just been planted.
They are just amazing at bringing about nutrients and like drawing nutrients out that need to be brought into the body of Christ. So the tabernacle item would be the table of showbread. Jesus is the true bread of life, the word incarnate, and growth by healthy nutrition.
That reading your word, being in God's word, is where we all get our nutrition, and where we are fed, and where we are full, and where our lifeline, it comes through God's word and through Jesus. And so they represent that in the body of Christ. To go deeper, if this were your gift, is to study God's word with this generation in mind.
Not what he did in past generations, but today. What is he doing today? What is God speaking to us today?
Unpack the revelation of who God is, which is embedded in your spirit. Go beyond the foundation that has been laid. So other people have already done all of this work, but go past that.
What else could you bring to the table? What principles of God, of the Word of God, will heal the woundedness of this culture? And research new areas of reconciliation, because they are so brilliant at reconciling. people back to God and so to really spend their time and energy in doing that.
How can we reach this generation? How can we reach these people that are walking and living today? Because what was done 20 years ago, 50 years ago, isn't what God's doing today.
He's doing a new thing and he's reaching people in new ways. And so the teachers who can be so stuck in the old ways, they can have brilliant ideas for today if they would search them and look for them in God's word and they can draw up new things that we're not even thinking of. That is a way for you to go deeper. Functions within the body of Christ would be to discover and validate truth.
They're very sensitive to doctrinal integrity, which helps keep the truth, the church, focused on truth. So they will be the ones that kind of alert if things aren't being said that are from scripture. So they're great to have within our churches. The truth about reconciliation. the tribe of Levi priestly anointing to bring people back to God.
They're professional spiritual coaches. When you know somebody in your life that's a teacher, you go to them with your problems and they will coach you back to a relationship with the Lord and help you to know how to get back in relationship with him. They become a factory that releases new flavors of truth to the body of Christ.
Take the problems of life and the resources of the word of God and generate new fruit, new life-giving messages from the word of God that are appropriate to the situation of the hour. New revelation from the principles of God. When teachers begin to do this, it is unbelievable what they're able to accomplish because they have this ability to see in God's word what nobody else sees.
And when they apply it to today, it's gonna unleash An ability to reach people and to reconcile people back to God that we're missing. So they have to take the time to do that. And it will benefit the whole body by the time that they spend looking for ways to reconcile people back to Him. Okay, so next you're going to look through our chart for the teacher, and it's going to show you the mature and the carnal teacher.
And I recommend that you start reading the carnal side, and you read the first box, and then you go to the second box on the other side that says mature. So the carnal would be on your worst days. This is where your mind, your body, your spirit could go.
But when you're close to the Lord, when you're mature, when you're being transformed daily, renewing your mind that this is what God designs for you to be. So I'll allow you to read through that on your own, but definitely take time to read through it. I hope that you did take the time to read through that chart and that if it resonated with you, if it spoke to your spirit, if you just felt a quickening in your spirit of, wow, this really sounds like me.
This really seems like what I struggle with, but also the areas that God is using me and the ways I can see him wanting to use me. And I just want to pray for you if that's you. And then we will close.
God, I thank you for... the person that's watching this video right now God I pray that you would allow their eyes and their heart to be open to whether or not this gift of the teacher is their gift Lord I pray that if it is their gift that you would allow them to embrace it that you would allow them to recognize all the ways you want to use them that you want them to exercise this gift the best of their ability Lord I pray that they would be Able to be flexible and to be moved by your spirit, to be present in today's culture, in today's generation, and learn the ways that you want to use them to bring this generation back to you. God, I pray that you would give them eyes to see the people today.
with your eyes, Lord, that they would recognize the ways that they're hurting, the ways that they need you, and that they could be there in spirit and in prayer for those people. God, I pray that you just bring people to them the way that you always do, that you would give them words, that you would give them wisdom and discernment to speak into the lives of those that pour out their hearts to them, Lord, the ones that come to them heavy and burdened with all of the worries of this world. Lord, I pray that you would help them to reconcile.
those people back to you, just the way the Levitical priest did. God, I pray that they would walk with that mantle everywhere that they go, and that they would be encouraged and not discouraged every time that it happens, that why do all these people want to tell me their information and their business? God, I pray that they would see it as an opportunity to be used by you, that they get to be your hands and feet, and they get to help reconcile people back to you, Jesus.
And I just thank you for them, and I thank you for the gift that they are in the body of Christ. In Jesus'name we pray. Amen.