Teaching is a vital asset in all of our lives. Whether it is an elementary teacher teaching his/her students how to add and subtract numbers, or a college professor teaching a course that will send his/her students into the workforce, teaching is important. Not only is teaching the fundamentals in life important, but also teaching the fundamentals of the gospel as well. As we will study, if we do not teach the youth now, they will not know about Jesus. If we do not spread and teach the gospel to our youth, who will? It is a serious yet important question and as we will learn, we who know the truth, must teach the truth.

When God set up laws in the Old Testament, it was necessary for the parents to teach their children the law of God so that the children could continue the worship of God in Israel. Deuteronomy 6:7 says, “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. “ God wanted them to pass on the laws that He had set up. He wanted them to not only obey them, but talk about them as well. They were to “impress” or “teach” them to their children. God knew it was necessary to teach the children, or the children would not obey the law.

Judges 2 provides an excellent example of how not teaching the children can impact the next generation. Judges 2 takes place when Joshua dies and a new generation comes up. Judges 2:10 says, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.” This generation did not know God or His miracles because they had not been taught. Children come into the world knowing nothing. They grow up knowing what they had been taught or what they have seen. Since they did not know God or know what He had done, they had not been taught. As verse 11 goes on to say, they “did evil in the eyes of the Lord”. Not teaching our children the gospel message is very dangerous.

But we also need to make sure that we are teaching everyone, not just children. In Matthew 28:16-20 Jesus tells his disciples to go out into all the nations preaching the gospel message. This included everyone in all parts of the world. So is this what God wants us to do now? Does He want us to go to every part of the world and preach? No. For some people, this may be their calling. However not everyone shares the same gifts given to them by God. Paul talks about this in Romans 12:6-8, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Paul tells us that whatever our gift is, we should use it. Whether that is teaching, giving, encouraging, etc.

As we can see, teaching is important and vital. From one generation to the next there must be teaching. We must teach the gospel to our youth and those around us. We must also remember to use the Scriptures when we teach (2 Timothy 3:16-17).