So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. (2 Corinthians 10:8 NIV).
The quintessential task of a teacher is to build others up – to empower them. This is as well the fundamental task of social responsibility. God has blessed us with abilities and capacities to do this very thing, and we should not be ashamed of our mission or ambition to do so. To empower others is a dramatically different ambition than to try to prove your own goodness and worth by blandishing others--an attempt basically to weaken others and make them dependent upon you. To genuinely empower others is philanthropic; yet coincidentally profoundly self-affirming. That surely is as God intended.
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