No matter how young or old a person might be, the truth of God’s Word will not seem as important to them if they fail to see its relevancy to their lives. Some basic age level understanding can help teachers make truths relevant, making age level training an important part of a Bible teacher’s training plan.
Understand What It Means to Make Truths Relevant
To be sure, God’s truth is already relevant as “all Scripture is useful” and able to “thoroughly equip” us (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Bible teachers, however, need to make certain connections with students to help them see the implications and application of God’s Word to their lives.
We’re not talking about compromising truth by changing it to fit people. We don’t add to or take away from what God has spoken in His Word but rather look at it from an angle that will tend to matter more to one’s students, that will show how it relates to their lives. The same truth, taught in different age groups, will have different slants to make it relevant to the various groups.
Order the Making Even Well-Known Truths Relevant Worksheet that uses Jesus’ coming to earth as an example showing how it relates to the various ages.
Age Level Understanding Provides a Starting Point for How to Zero in on Truth’s Relevancy to Particular Students
The best way to know how to tap into the implications and application of truth of our students’ lives is to build relationships with them and get to know what’s happening in their lives. That takes time so an understanding of age level characteristics provides Bible teachers with a starting point.
Each of the age brackets have basic needs and abilities. Make sure you understand the traits for the age you teach. This kind of training should be a part of one’s pre-service training but it is never too late to learn more. And, it doesn’t hurt for those who have been teaching for some time to gain reminders.
Order the Age Level Characteristics Resource for a glimpse into the age you teach. That link will take you to the resource that includes all age levels but you can order different age modules separately if you don’t need all age groups. It’s broken down as such: