A Great Teacher

A Great Teacher Helps You Learn
 
          While on our family vacation our daughter in love Meg’s dad Michael came to the beach with us and brought two of his paddleboards. Michael grew up in a beach town and paddle boarding and surfing have been a strong part of his whole life. He wanted to teach our family to paddleboard. Everyone was eager to learn except me. I am awaiting total shoulder replacement, so I decided to sit this one out.
          Everyone took a turn learning about the board and how to get up on it and steer it through the waves. Everyone pretty much fell off in grand fashion when first trying to learn. Michael was so patient and so encouraging with each member of the family that attempted to learn. His gentle and calm instructions kept everyone interested and determined to learn. In the end all of the family students got up on the boards and were able to ride them. He made this experience a blessing to our family.
          I thought about how we as more experienced Christians could learn a lesson when trying to show new, untrained Christians how to maneuver through the waves of Christianity. Michael could have gotten out there and showed off his tremendous skills, but he chose to show how rather than to show off. He also was gentle and encouraging rather than critical and harsh when someone fell off or made a mistake.
          When a person first accepts Christ, they don’t know the right way yet. We must be patient and gentle with them like the babes in Christ that they are. They are going to do what babies do – make a mess and cry when they are corrected. So they need us, the more mature Christians, to show them the way with patience, gentleness, and kindness. Many a new Christian has been run off because of harshness and impatience from older Christians who chose to correct in a way that wasn’t loving.
          I saw all of our family members fall off the board in sometimes awkward positions. But each one got back up and tried again. Why? A big part of it was because Michael's gentle words of encouragement made them not feel like a failure but just that it was a part of the learning process.  In love with Jesus – Gary Mimbs