There is a young lady in our congregation that I taught in my four-year-old Bible class. She is graduating from high school this year. She is a beautiful young lady with a delightful personality, bright, and ready to go out into a new world.
When she was in my class, she was very mischievous, so much so that she sometimes spent a little time in the corner. She could be very disruptive. She wasn’t really bad, just talkative and mischievous.
She was always dressed in pretty dresses, and her hair was perfectly fixed. She loved looking pretty, but she could sometimes be a tomboy.
I tried to explain to her that she was a pretty and smart little girl, and that she needed to act like a lady.
After several weeks of being disruptive in class, she came in one Sunday morning and announced, “I am going to be a lady from now on.” I was surprised, but I shouldn’t have been. This little girl surprised me every week with something.
Her announcement to not only me but to the class had everyone looking around to see what I was going to say. I told her I thought that was wonderful, and I certainly hoped she really meant it. Guess what? She did! From that Sunday until she left my class, she came in and behaved in an almost adult way. She didn’t distract the other students. She said her memory verse. She answered questions, always raising her hand first. What a change!
I never knew what caused her to change. I would like to think that what I said to her made her do it, but who knows? All I know is that she became an ideal student.
Her mother told me about an incident that happened later in the year. They were in a restaurant having lunch. The little girl walked by a table where the server was placing a bottle of beer on the table. She looked up at her mother and said loudly enough for everyone at the table to hear, “That man is going to the bad place because he is drinking beer. We talked about that in my Bible class”.
This “little lady” has now gone to meddling! But she was just stating a Bible principle, one that she had learned in Bible class and at home as well.
There are lessons to be learned from this little girl (Mt. 18:3):
- The truth is for everyone, even a 4-year-old.
- Never underestimate the power of the gospel. If we present it, it will often fall on an open heart.
- People can change. No matter how bad a person or what they have done, they can change.
- Never give up on a soul. No matter how they have behaved in the past, no matter how they have received the truth before, keep using every opportunity to teach.
- Teach with love. I truly loved this little girl. I think she knew it too. I still love her and wish her the best in life.
- Children can teach. I don’t know what the man in the restaurant thought about what this child said, but I doubt he forgot it. Children have a way of expressing the truth.
As this young lady goes off to school, I hope she will remember that she is a lady. She is also God’s child.
–Sandra Oliver