Proverbs for Teaching

I recently heard a sermon about getting healthy with family conflict.  The pastor differentiated between positive and negative conflict in the home and focused on ways to eliminate negative conflict, using various Proverbs from scripture.  Throughout the sermon, it seemed God was really speaking to me, but on a different topic.  (Does that ever happen to anyone else, or is it just me?  Like, I learn from the sermon, but then God shows me an entirely different area to work on too... yikes!) In this case, every Proverb seemed to relate to me as a teacher.  I started to delve more into this concept God was showing me - that there is lots of wisdom throughout the book of Proverbs, and I can use it specifically in the way I run my classroom and interact with students. 

The Word of God is TRUE whether or not someone believes it.  I remember my dad saying "The Word of God is working either for you or against you, but it's working..."  Whether or not you believe that the Bible is the inspired and perfect Word of God, it still is.  And the truths in it are happening in your life.  For example, "As charcol to embers, and wood to a fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife"  (Proverbs 26:21)  That is a fact - someone who likes to argue fuels bigtime strife just like wood fuels a fire.  I am ever amazed by the truth I find in God's Word. 

Over several posts, I'll comment on different Proverbs and how I'm using them in teaching.... here are a couple below. 


"Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it is in your power to act."  -Proverbs 3:27  If you've heard this before, it's so true - every teacher has favorites.  It's hard not to!  The harder part is, however, to be fair and consistent across the board.  One side of this is bestowing good upon the kids that deserve it even if they are usually a pain in the butt! 

"Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips." -Proverbs 4:24  This verse affects me in 2 ways.  (1.)  I realized my students don't swear at me or cuss me out... in fact, when I overhear them using profanity towards someone else or just in basic conversation, they usually apologize.  Other teachers have to consistently write students up for cussing them out.  Solution - don't swear at your students and they won't swear at you.  Everyone benefits when you "put away perversity from your mouth."  (2.) Teachers are non-stop negatively talking about students.  I'm sure this happens almost everywhere, but it's so irritating to me!  In fact, I try to just stay away from those teachers all together... keep corrupt talk far from your lips.  (It's not helping anything anyway).

Do you use any Proverbs in your life on a daily basis?