After yesterday’s post on 10 reasons why you should do lesson prep early, here’s a follow-up on two things we often forget about teaching God’s Word.

1. Passion trumps eloquence. Passion communicates something deeper on a subconscious level than what we can fake on a stage. Hyping up more energy and excitement doesn’t equate passion — it just makes you look goofy as you flail your arms and talk loudly. When you’re genuinely passionate, there’s something subliminal that’s very intriguing when you talk. Even if your audience doesn’t care about the subject matter, they can’t help but listen. Conversely, rarely are people engaged when messages contain great content but no passion.

2. You are not the Holy Spirit. Teach God’s Word, but relieve yourself of the expectation to transform lives. Resist the pressure to apply every lesson to teenagers’ lives in every relevant situation you can think of. That’s the job of the Holy Spirit to convict, prompt and teach as you communicate God’s Word. Partner with Him, don’t try to do His job. You do your part while He does His. Life-change is not ultimately your responsibility. That’s between the individual and God.

What other things do we often forget about teaching scripture? Share in the comments below.

Posted on April 14, 2010