Benjamin Franklin said, “Learning to serve God, family, and community is the aim and end of all true learning.” The true purpose of education is to bless humanity with the knowledge and wisdom we’ve attained. It is deeper than just getting a good-paying job. The prevailing education model today often prioritizes conformity and adherence to prescribed content. William Butler Yeats said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Education is much more than pouring information into the brains of our children. A key purpose of education is inspiring our children to seek truth and apply it. I want my children to know how to base their thinking and actions on Truth, how to work and do hard things, and then apply their education to serving humanity. All of these elements MUST have GOD as the foundation.
Learning and Recognizing Truth:
The current public education model does not encourage children to think for themselves. It encourages children to know what the government has deemed important for them to know and to regurgitate it in some form or another. It does not have God as a solid unchanging foundation of Truth, but the ever-shifting sands of bureaucratic whims and fads. In John 8:32 it says, “The truth will set you free.” For our lives to work most effectively, we must live in line with the Natural Laws of the universe—with the source of all Truth—even God Himself. It is tempting to TRY to work against the Natural Laws of the universe, but in time, it is easy to see that one cannot defy gravity, one will get burnt when touching a hot stove, and no matter how much one wants to eat five donuts a day without gaining weight, Natural Law always wins out.
Our nation’s founders understood this principle, and they based the foundations of our country upon Natural Law that was founded in the Bible. This has allowed our country for over two centuries to be the most free and productive nation ever to exist on the face of the earth. For our own lives to work, we must be in line with these Natural Laws and know what these Natural Laws are. These Natural Laws are found in the scriptures and the study of the best books–classics. Through diligent, daily study of Truth, my hope is for my children to understand true principles at a deep level and be able to apply these principles in their own lives. This also allows them to discern counterfeit truths that will not serve their lives in the long term. I want them to think before they act, and be able to know the principle upon which they are basing their action. In my opinion, understanding Truth is key to education.
Work
While attending a class on the attributes of great leaders the teacher spoke of the importance of work. He said, “I can teach my employees anything if they know how to work.” Once a child knows how to work and how to manage their time, the opportunities are endless. If you can work, you can learn anything. Thomas Edison said, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Through hard work, we become. The poet John Ruskin said, “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.” Teaching our children how to work has far more rewards than getting a job done and being paid for it. It creates character.
Vision and Service:
Motivational speaker Steve Pavlina said, “Hard work is painful when life is devoid of purpose. But when you live for something greater than yourself and the gratification of your own ego, then hard work becomes a labor of love.” Service is what gives vision and purpose to work. I believe everyone on earth has certain missions, God-given desires, or “callings” they were meant to share with the world. The power of this mission is that we are co-creating with God. It is recognizing that your mission is to put your will in line with God’s in SUBmission. He knows what you are capable of becoming, and as we rely upon His mercy, we are enabled to be far more than we can be on our own.
To create a masterpiece with our lives, we must be willing to be a tool in the hands of the Master. I want my children to not be worried about pleasing teachers, but pleasing God. I want them to be used by God as a force for good and to “leave a lasting legacy,” as Steven Covey often said. Serving allows us to recognize that we have a purpose beyond our own.
Conclusion:
Leighton Ford said, “Whatever our career may be, true leadership means to receive power from God and to use it under God’s rule to serve people in God’s way.” Becoming educated is not a list of steps that you check off and finally arrive. Because most of us were educated in public school, it is easy to see education as a checklist of things that must be completed until we have finally arrived and been declared finished. But we must realize that education is not a destination. It is a journey. It is about becoming. It is about understanding and applying Truth, building character through hard work and creation, and passing our legacy on through living lives of service.
“But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 23:11
