I have always believed that teachers need to possess a certain superhuman quality. No matter what is happening in their lives (conflicts with family members, sleepless nights, chronic illnesses, etc.), they still wake up, get ready, and stand before their students day after day.  There is no choice to go into an office and close the door. A grumpy irritable teacher does no one any good – the students or the teacher.  

One day I was walking through a zoo with my family and stumbled upon a sign with this quote on it by Jane Goodall: “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” 

Teachers make a difference in students’ lives every day – for good or not. Seventh-day Adventist Christian teachers have an even greater responsibility to have a positive impact on their students not just for now but for eternity.  

Part of Joshua 24:15 states “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…” If one is serving God as Jesus did, they will always have a positive impact on those around them. Unfortunately, our humanness often gets in the way of us acting in the right manner. We need to pray every day as the psalmist did for God to “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10.) 

We cannot control the way people around us act, but we can control how we react to their actions. Staying closely connected to our Father in Heaven allows us to do this in a more positive manner. 

When I was teaching, sometimes the students would ask me if something that we were doing mattered or if they had a choice or not. My response to them was “Everything matters. You always have a choice, and it always makes a difference.” The students heard me say this so often that they began to quote my words (even if it may have been a bit mockingly at times).  

Ask yourself at the end of each day, week, or year, “What kind of difference have I made in the lives of my students? Has it been positive or negative? Has it helped or hurt? Has it brought them closer to God?” If you are not satisfied with your responses, think about what you can do to change things.