I CORINTHIANS 13 IN TRV (with apologies to brother Paul)

1. If I speak with the tongues of Latin, Greek, and all other Romance languages, but do not have love for my students, I have become as the sounding of the class buzzer or recess bell.

2. And if I have the gift of knowing a student’s chance of passing my class just by looking at him, and know how to explain all mysteries, even the purpose and working of the electoral college, and all knowledge, without relying on my teacher’s editions, and if I have all faith to move the entire NEA to a conservative stance, but do not have love for my students, I am nothing.

3. And if I give all my tape, chalk, and pens from my desk to help equip poor students and poor teachers, and if I deliver my body to frigid temperatures and high winds at recess duty, but do not have love for these precious students, all that sacrifice profits me nothing.

4. Love for my students is patient, enduring all sorts of strange behaviors; it is kind, not delivering an incredibly applicable, but nevertheless, snide comment when tempted; love is not jealous of my “private, personal” time; love for my students means I model humility to them, even though I do know more than they do, and I encourage them to be open to correction, too, for love is not arrogant.

5. Love for my students shows itself in my classroom decorum, it means I seek no glory for myself, it is not easily provoked, even by the umpteenth time that little guy has done that!; It does not make a big deal out of what could be interpreted as a personal offense;

6. It does not rejoice in teaching about pain and suffering, even if the “bad guys” are the ones on the receiving end; it does rejoice in teaching about God’s truth and real justice toward all.

7. Love for my students draws on God’s grace to bear countless antagonisms, it believes the best is possible from any student, and does not doubt a student’s word without good reason each time; it hopes that each student will succeed and endures many set-backs to that hope, without giving up on the student.

8. This love never fails, by God’s grace alone, in providing the strength and stamina I need to show these students love; but if I rely on my fantastic teaching ability or immense knowledge of the subject, these will be done away with and probably forgotten by the students; if I rely on my quick wit and large vocabulary, they will cease with every dumb cold or sore throat I may be afflicted with; if I rely on even my knowledge of how to integrate the material, even this will not last as long as love.

9. For all that we may know as teachers, we still know only part of God’s revelation, and even in our best teaching times, we are teaching poorly and partially compared to the Master Teacher;

10. But when all truth and real knowledge in Christ is revealed in the Eternal School, our “best” teaching will be done away with.

11. I need to remember that I, too, was once a child like those looking up to me now. I, too, perceived life as a child, seeing my teachers as demigods; I spoke, acted, and, yea verily, even thought like these students; I grew to adulthood, these students, even the boys, will too. I did away with the thoughts, actions, and speech of a child, through the hard work and loving training of my teachers; these students, too, will one day lay aside these childish ways.

12. For the time being my students will see, as in a hazy picture, the Master Teacher teaching through me, but, Lord willing, when they come into the Eternal School, they will see Him face to face, now I teach from my limited understanding, but then I will be able to learn much more and know, as I have am now known by my Teacher.

13. But for now the best characteristics of my teaching should be: my faith in my Lord and His Word; my hope in my students - expecting the very best from them, and my love for my students - as an obvious channel for God’s love; these three characteristics, but the greatest of these is love.

Thomas R. Garfield