Proverbs 15:2

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable; but the mouth of fools spouts folly.

We have talked and talked about talk, lips, tongue. So I mulled this verse over for two days in my head to figure a different way to talk about talk. Then it hit me...'makes knowledge acceptable'.

Think back to when you were in school. Think of your different teachers that you had. Over the years, you probably experienced mean ones, fun ones, interesting ones, boring ones. What makes a good teacher? (or a wise teacher if we apply it to the above verse). Let me compare a few of  my high school teachers for you (I went to a very small private school, so many of my teachers were repeated each year and taught several subjects.)

Mr. K--Super nice, but also didn't know half of the things students did behind his back. Kids got away with a lot in his class. He also taught in a very monotone voice; and a bit above most of our heads. Over the years I took Bible, English, and Chemistry from him. I did good to pass Chemistry and Bible and English were always a breeze for me, so I really didn't even need him for those. In fact, I don't remember a thing that stands  out in what he taught.

Mr. W--Hilarious, friendly but strict. Taught Speech (I may like to teach but I do NOT like to get up in front of people. It scares me to death.), Bible, Science classes, and drove my bus on occasion. Mr W made his learning fun but kept a firm hand on the class. He taught things in such a way that even in speech class I strove to please him. When he drove my bus, he purposely went out of the way to take me all the way home instead of making me walk the mile that the school and other drivers required. (private schools do what they want.) Because of his fun, friendly manner, he made me want to learn. Even in my hard classes I worked hard to please him.

Ms F--She taught all of our math classes. She was a serious, get down to business kind of teacher. Nice, but not overly friendly. If we struggled she would go over it again, or find new ways to go over it. If we had trouble in her class she found ways to help us bring our grade up. (I am a math whiz except Geometry. She gave me lots of extra work in geometry to help me keep my grade up.) She understand that just because you don't understand something, then you are not stupid. You just need it put in a different light.

Mr. H--Mr military. Seriously. He just retired finally after being in the reserves for 40 years or more. Mean; Could care less to listen to 'our side' of things if something didn't go right; his way or the highway. Over the years I took many classes from him but most commonly History and Bible. I did not need his help in Bible but History was very hard for me. (I have always struggled with lots of memorization.)

the other Mr H--the other history teacher. Friendly but down to business like Ms F, and also helped us like Ms F. He was the best teacher ever for helping review before tests. As I said, I was horrible at memorization. I could enter a final in his class and do fine, because he took the time to review with us so that we couldn't fail.

Now that I bored you and took you back to school, I will get to my point. (Finally! right?). I went through each of these because I wanted to spark some memory in your own life. I was hoping that describing these would help you remember some of your teachers that helped you gain knowledge, even when it wasn't easy. Or how about the opposite. Teachers that you didn't learn a thing from.

No matter where you are at in life, someone is watching you. You are teaching someone. If you want them to accept what you are teaching, then you need to be wise in your approach. That means it begins in you; not in them.