This charism is not limited to the classroom; it has the power to transform lives in various life situations. Whether you’re a parent homeschooling your children, a corporate trainer, or a college professor – teaching is a charism that can greatly impact those around you. Let’s explore the nuances of this charism and how you can discern if you possess this special gift.
What is the Teaching Charism?
This charism can be defined as the supernatural empowerment to effectively impart knowledge and ideas to others. It goes beyond mere communication skills; it is about creating an environment where students truly learn and connect with the shared material. Whether you are teaching concrete information, practical skills, or even moral values, the teaching charism allows the Holy Spirit to work through you, leaving a lasting impact on your students.
Expanding the Scope of Teaching
While classroom teaching is a classic example, the teaching charism can manifest in numerous roles and settings. It could be found in corporate trainers, HR professionals, or even as a parent guiding and forming your children. In some cases, this charism merges with the charism of preaching, particularly for priests and deacons who have a specific call to share information that truly resonates with the congregation.
Discerning the Teaching Charism
If you are questioning whether you possess this charism, consider the impact you have on your students. Do they remember what you taught them for an extended period? Are they able to recall specific lessons that have profoundly affected their lives? One remarkable aspect of this charism is that the Holy Spirit often prompts students to share their experiences with you. The powerful feedback and confirmation you receive from your students is evidence of the teaching charism at work.
Embracing the Teaching Charism
When receiving compliments or recognition for your teaching, it is vital to acknowledge the role of the Holy Spirit in your gift. Avoid brushing off praise or attributing success solely to your own efforts. Learn to fully embrace the fact that you are co-laboring with the Holy Spirit, allowing the person of Christ to be present through your teaching. By recognizing this partnership, you can go all-in and approach your teaching with a deep sense of purpose and divine guidance.
Theis charism is a potent gift that allows the Holy Spirit to work through us in empowering others with knowledge, skills, and moral values. Whether you find yourself in a classroom, a home, or a professional setting, teaching has the potential to profoundly transform lives. It is not simply about imparting information but about creating an environment where students truly learn and connect with the material. As you discern your charisms, consider if this charism resonates within you, and remember to embrace the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you continue to impact the lives of those around you.
Jill Simons [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to Charisms for Catholics. My name is Jill Simons and I’m the Executive Director at Many Parts Ministries, where we equip the Body of Christ by helping people learn about and discern their charisms, which is really another word for spiritual gifts. When you discern your charisms, you’re able to see how the Holy Spirit is already active in your life and where he is inviting you to further build the Church. Let’s dive in.
Jill Simons [00:00:32]:
Hello. Today, we’re gonna be talking, teaching about the Teaching charism. We’re going to be really diving into what this is and what this isn’t to help you get clarity about whether or not this might be one of yours. So by way of definition, Teaching as a charism to just super condense what it is, is being supernaturally empowered to teach in a way where students really learn. That is that fruit that we’re looking from. Were were people able to connect with what we’re sharing in a supernatural way. And in its details that comes down to, you know, being able to communicate ideas, having good communication skills, being able to teach people skills, teach people concrete information, teach people how to remember things, that whatever scope is necessary to the teaching environment that you’re in. And obviously, the classic example of this is being a classroom teacher where that is the core of your role is to teach people, but teaching comes up in a huge variety of life situations and a huge variety of roles. You might be teaching as a corporate trainer, as a member of HR, as a college professor, so kind of teaching at a different level, teaching as, a mother, even homeschooling your children, or just really ministering to them, even if they are not receiving their primary education from you in the home, maybe they’re attending school elsewhere, but you are still really teaching and forming them as human beings in your home. All of those are perfectly normal applications of this charism. And there may be others, absolutely, where it is less, baked into the role that you would expect a Teaching charism, but people are able to teach in a whole bunch of different situations. This is also one of the charisms that might go into preaching for some people. Priests that feel that they, or deacons even, that have a very specific call on their life to preach, it might be from a place of teaching, being able to really share information with the people listening in a way that they really learn. And I see sometimes younger elementary school teachers will take the charism assessment and not receive, highly likely charism of teaching. And that can be concerning to them. I just want to kind of, have that conversation in this episode as well. If you are in a role where the most important thing is teaching someone how to do something or about something, it’s more likely that Teaching is gonna be one of your charisms. Whereas in early elementary, preschool through about 3rd grade, typically, that it is less important that students remember exactly what you’ve said and exactly how you said it, and much more important for for them to receive how you are present to them. So that looks lot more like Encouragement, Mercy, Hospitality, even, those charisms that allow you to really receive the gift of child that is in front of you. That does not invalidate your role as a classroom teacher in any way. Actually, that is perfectly aligned with where you are meeting your children in their developmental scope. And so you may have Teaching as charism, I don’t wanna say you never would, but it’s more common to have Teaching as a charism if you are teaching at a higher level where there’s a lot more cognition required for your students to be able to interact with what you’re teaching. Not a hard and fast role, but is definitely a trend that I see. And so when you’re looking at judging a Teaching charism, do I really have this charism? We always look at the experience of your students. Are the people that you’re teaching really learning? Are they remembering what you taught them for a very long time? Are they able to come back much later in life and return to a specific lesson that you taught them that has been powerful and important to them in the scope of their life. That’s great evidence of a Teaching charism. And that’s something that students feel often motivated to go back and share with teachers by the Holy Spirit. So that will be one of the ways that the Holy Spirit wants to give you feedback and wants to encourage you in that direction is by actually prompting students who might not otherwise go back and seek you out to tell you about this to do that so that you have that reinforcement, that confirmation that this is actually a gift that you have. And so when you receive those compliments, it’s important to really receive them. It’s important not to just brush them off and, oh, anybody could have taught you that. It’s not that big a deal. Oh, why your class was really good. You know, a lot of teachers will come up with all of these different, I don’t wanna call them excuses, but kind of other reasons that the teaching was really effective. And I think it’s very important to own the fact not that it is coming from you, but the Holy Spirit is using you in a very powerful way to teach young people and to really lean on that, to really go all in on that and to begin your times of teaching with that awareness that you are co-laboring with the Holy Spirit in teaching your students and that this is really a very concrete way that you are making the person of Christ, the Holy Spirit, present to your students no matter what you’re teaching them how to do
Jill Simons [00:06:11]:
Thanks so much for joining us on today’s episode of Charism for Catholics.
Jill Simons [00:06:15]:
If you would like to
Jill Simons [00:06:16]:
learn more about your Charisms or begin your own discernment journey, head to our website at manypartsministries.com, where you can download our free PDF guide to all 24 charisms and also begin your own journey by taking our charism assessment.
