03/27/2014 

Written by Amber Tafao

As a middle school teacher, I have learned that I can be far more effective teaching difficult concepts when I have built positive relationships with my students. One in particular has a deep need for me to call him out by name and say goodbye to him at the end of class every day and will mention it the next day if I forgot to do so or if I didn’t mention him by name. It makes me smile.

Investing time into people’s lives often requires energy we may not have that particular day at that particular moment. Can you imagine how exhausted Jesus felt after speaking to crowds of thousands, healing, feeding, and ministering to people, and also finding time to slip away to spend with His Father? Yet, He always found time for His disciples. He patiently answered their questions. He broke down parables for them. He instructed them regarding the Truth. He challenged, confronted, called, disciplined, and guided them. 

Read Ephesians 4 today. It is a great chapter on relationships. Especially beautiful is verse 2: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Find the energy to invest in the lives of people with whom you come in contact, and see what great reward comes of it.