June 19

Today's passage was about seeing the church as a family. Paul was teaching Timothy that, as a pastor, he should look around at the body of Christ as a familial unit. He was to treat older men as fathers, older women as mothers, younger men as brothers and younger women as sisters. These teachings, though they were meant for the "young pastor" are meant for any one of us, especially as teachers. As small group leaders, we are, in a way, pastors to our students. They are our younger siblings, and to me, my babies! If we are to teach them and set an example for them, we are to treat them as Timothy is to treat his church - to love them as family and to lead them as older and more spiritually mature figures. In the same way, we are to treat those above us with the same love and respect, both to set an example to those younger than us and to learn from those above us. Each child of God is a "pastor" in one way or another, and we all have something to teach each other and learn from each other. I, for one, know I haven't been the best role model and best older sibling to my students, but knowing that these responsibilities that we all hold are from God is definitely humbling (and terrifying!) It's a humbling experience every time I step into my classroom and interact with my students, and it's in those moments that I know that we're teaching one another.