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How does your understanding of mankind’s fallen nature impact your work in the classroom?
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Because I know all my students have a sin nature, I am not surprised when they sin. I anticipate it and make plans for how to handle poor behaviors and attitudes.
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It provides an explanation for why I and my students will make mistakes as well as sinful choices. This ought to encourage a spirit of humility and grace as we are all broken people living in a broken world.
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We all fall short and are in need of a Savior. Grace, mercy and love should be shown with the sole desire to draw us closer to Jesus.
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It is so key to understand that we are ALL fallen, not just certain students. Teachers and the “good” students all need a Savior. All of us have fallen short of God’s glory and His perfect standard. Because of this fact, we must remember to be both firm about rules AND compassionate towards those who break them. We must remember that the goal is to bring children to Christ, to point to His perfect standard but also His way of making us righteous in Him as we believe in Him and what He did for us on the cross. We cannot fully serve and teach our students if we just blame a student’s environment or past for his/her issues. To get at the root of those problems, we must explain about the true nature of man, that we have a soul and that the first man and woman rebelled against God, passing on that sin nature to all their descendants, including us. Because of that, we all need the Savior, Jesus Christ, sent by God to pay the penalty for our sin by living the perfect life for us, dying the death we deserved as the Lamb of God, and then rising again, conquering sin and death so he can cloth us with His righteousness and give us eternal life in Him.
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I understand that I am fallen so I have to keep myself in check as a teacher, and I understand that my students are fallen and will make many mistakes along the way so I need to be Christlike in my interactions with them as they fail along the journey.