One of the things I am involved with on a regular basis is the formation and development of curriculum. This occurs every time I enter a classroom and close the door. What happens in the next 50 minutes is up to me. I have 50 minutes to pass on to my students something I believe is important. If I am not there to do that I am not a good teacher.
So where do I get these things I think are important? I get them the same place all of us get our values – for it is the common experience of all people to develop a personal value system.
Our values come from our experiences. Does something produce in us pain or pleasure, joy or discouragement, love or apathy? These personal reactions contribute to our sense of what is good or bad, which often becomes right or wrong.
Our values come from face worth such as the delight of a small child seeing a bunny vs. the delight of a torturer. The delight of the torturer looks likes perversion in light of the purity of a child.
Our values come from viewing excellence. Not only moral excellence but excellence in art, music, carpentry, athletic competition, being a good provider, long-term productivity vs. short-term satisfaction.
Every day we need to exam where we expend our energies. Do our values only contribute to our personal needs or are they part of a broader fulfillment of the needs of everyone we will touch today?
James 3:13, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”
Written by Roger Bothwell on August 30, 2006
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