1 Samuel 12:23 (NKJV)
“Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.”

The second important pillar that’s needed for transformation, is teaching. Prayer is good, but instruction in truth and righteousness is another key requirement. We need more people who can teach. Teaching is the systematic unveiling of truth.

Samuel said, “…but I will teach you the good and the right way.” In addition to prayer, Samuel was willing to take on the responsibility of teaching the people. Some of us may have become tired of repeatedly saying the same thing to the same people, and have become weary of teaching. But we must not get tired. God expects us to do this.

There are two ways to teach. The first way is to actually do the teaching yourself. If God has graced you with the ability to dissect truth and communicate it simply, that is great. Teaching requires taking complex and often difficult concepts or instructions and making them easy to understand. The focus of teaching is obedience through understanding.

Some people simply dish out instructions as commands and expect listeners to automatically obey. It doesn’t always work that way. People are not machines. People have minds of their own and make choices based on feeling and thinking. Teaching gives clarity to the mind and helps motivation for obedience.

The second way to do teaching is to reproduce good teaching. You may not be a gifted teacher, but you can communicate good teaching wherever you find it. God designed the body to collaborate, and that’s how the Church ought to function. Don’t hold back any great resource you find. Bless others with it. Make the connections.

Jesus’ final mandate to His disciples was to go into the world and, “teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” Teach, not preach. Systematically present truth for obedience. If we want to see transformation, we need to go on the teaching offensive; a truth offensive. Wishful thinking isn’t good enough. The Lord Himself is counting on us! Amen.