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What Do Our Kids Need?

A school is not a school without students. We can have the greatest programs and curriculum, but without students there is no school. Students are the critical element within a school. Therefore students should be the focus of every element in a school. In a Christian school the focus on the student should only increase as our goal is to not just academic success but also to bring students into a relationship with Christ. I believe this focus requires a critical element, love.


Love

Although the focus of this blog is on the school setting, I learned something over 18 years ago on parenting from one of my pastors that is applicable to the school setting. He told us how to create an atmosphere in our home and how to correctly discipline our children. As he neared the end of his message I will never forget what he concluded with, "No matter how you discipline the most important thing for your children to know is that they are loved." He went on to tell us that you can "do" all the things the church or society says to do and not meet the goal because your kids did not know you loved them. He told us to love our kids, hug them, kiss them, and speak encouragement to them, saying that they may not remember all of the details but that they would remember our love. As an educator I have seen that sometimes we focus so much on creating the perfect environment in our classroom or school or make the perfect discipline decision that we forget the most important thing, these students must know they are loved.

Colossians 3:14 says, "And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (ESV). As Christians Paul admonishes us to have a lifestyle of love, and if we are to love one another now much more should our students know they are loved. In the case of our students love goes beyond academic excellence, we must meet their physical and emotional needs in our classroom as well. We establish this in our classrooms by being our students' place of comfort and safety. Our students should walk into our school and classrooms and know they are loved for who they are.

What Does Love Look Like in the Bible?

Love Is...

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 defines biblical love saying, "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (ESV). As educators our love for our children should be patient, kind, humble, flexible, forgiving, and encouraging. We should support our students, believe them, hope for them, and endure through challenges with them. Our love as educators should be all of these things toward are children. Our first role in love is to be an example in the way we love and live.

Love Trains

Proverbs 22:6 reminds us, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it" (ESV). The love of an educator requires us to train our students. Love takes the time to properly train a child and prepare them for the future God has designed for them. This means we must know our children and help guide them to make choices that will encourage their potential.

Love Disciplines

Proverbs 13:24 tells us, "Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him" (ESV). True love does not let a child continue in wrongdoing. Loving discipline should not be excessive and should lead toward charge. Our students should not leave a moment of discipline feeling discouraged or hurt, Colossians 3:21 says, "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" (ESV).

Love Enjoys

The Bible also reminds us, "Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward" (Psalm 127:3, ESV). Although our students are not our literal children, they are our spiritual children and our love should lead us to enjoy they. They are our reward, we should therefore enjoy them and the limited time we have with them in our schools. Our love should adjust our perspective from a "have to" to a "want to."

Where Do We Go From Here?

Being an educator is not always easy. But if we focus on prioritizing and loving our students with the love Christ gives us, we will guide them to truth with love. As 1 Corinthians 13:13 says, "So now faith, hope, and love abide; but the greatest of these is love" (ESV). As Christian educators, love must be the driving force of all we do.


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Location: Ventura, CA 93004, USA

Comments

  1. Erica LNovember 17, 2023 at 6:58 PM

    I love this! It’s right in line with what I’ve been learning about leadership. If you’re leading, the number one business you’re in is the people business, regardless of the industry. This post captures that perfectly. Prioritizing the students through a filter and practical application of love, you’re winning at the people business!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kent KesslerNovember 20, 2023 at 8:04 AM

    Your blog gives excellent insight about priorities in education - the students matter most, and they need to feel loved. It reminded me that the same priorities should apply to life in general. The important things are not programs, or achieving “success” or goals. The important thing is people. And the most important aspect of people is loving them, and making them feel loved.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gina GuerreroNovember 21, 2023 at 2:20 PM

    Love is a great motivator for teachers. I teach because I love kids and I want the best for them. That's my main motivation. This is a great article!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousNovember 27, 2023 at 1:38 PM

    This is such a good reminder of the difference between good discipline and ineffective discipline.

    ReplyDelete

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