The Greatest Teacher 

   I suppose we all have our favorite, and least favorite, teacher.  The one whose class we always looked forward to and the one whose class we would much rather have skipped.  The good ones taught us not what to think but how to think and we grew and matured because of that.

   But the one who is the greatest Teacher of all never stepped into a classroom.  His teaching was in the streets, on the mountains and in the valleys.  He taught by the life He lived.  His name is Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.

   He taught us that there are only two paths in this world; the one that leads to God’s kingdom and one that leads to perdition and eternal punishment.  He taught us that we had the choice of which path we took, but that there is no going back once this life is done.

   Jesus taught us that sin is not just an action, it is a sincere desire and willingness to sin, to offend the God who created and loves us.  We are guilty of adultery if we look upon a woman or man with lust in our hearts, desiring them even if the act is never consummated.  Not only those who kill another will be held accountable, but even those who harbor hatred for another.

   From His teachings we can understand that sin originates in our hearts when we reject the love of God and choose our own path.  But He also assured us that even the most heinous of our thoughts and actions can be forgiven when we turn to God in repentance, desiring to amend our lives.

   Most of all He taught love, love of God and love of neighbor.  All that He did was done for love of us.  The rejection, the pain, and the suffering He endured as well as His death on the cross was borne because of His great love.  He defined love in all He did and in all He taught.

   We have all benefited from our teachers who were dedicated to helping their students grow and mature.  But the greatest teacher taught us to live our life as God intended, to place His will above our own and to love Him and neighbor with a love that cares more for the good of the other than for self.