God makes it clear that He wants us to be more than “hearers” of His Word. He commands us to be “doers” as well (James 1:22-25; 2:17-26). That means Bible teachers need to seriously incorporate ways to help students apply what they’re learning into their lesson plans. We need to promote application of truth, not just teach for head knowledge.
An Acrostic to Help Teachers Promote Application of Truth into Lessons
The following acrostic provides suggestions of what Bible teachers can incorporate into their teaching to increase the potential of students applying the truth to life.
A – Action Steps
Helping students set a goal of an actual step they will take will increase the potential of them doing something with what they learned.
P – Practice Exercises
Letting students experience the application of the truth in a contrived situation reinforces what they should do in real life.
P – Prayer for God’s Help
Never assume students will live out the Word based on good intent and in their own strength.
L – Limited Focus of Lessons Learned
When we try to teach too much in one lesson, students often tend to apply little or nothing.
I – Implications of Truth to Life
Don’t assume students will understand how truth relates to their lives but rather help them grasp its relevancy.
C – Challenge to Commit
While planning an action step and practicing it in class certainly helps, there also needs to be a commitment to follow through with God’s help.
A – Accountability Plan
Students will be more likely to follow through with their commitment to apply truth if they know the teacher will be following-up in some way.
T – Tailored Objectives
A one-size-fits-all plan rarely works as individual needs, backgrounds, and life responsibilities vary.
I – Illustrations of Truth Applied
We all tend to learn from and get inspired by stories of how God’s Word changed lives.
O – Options
Help students think through a variety of ways they might have opportunity to apply the truth so they don’t get so narrowed in how the truth might apply that they miss it in real life.
N – Nudging with encouragement
Accountability certainly helps but so does spurring students on through positive feedback, encouraging them along the way.
Training Resource: Application: It’s God’s Idea, Not Merely a Good Idea Worksheet (does not include the above acrostic)
This post was right on time and I will be applying these tips immediately
Wonderful, Efia. Your doing just what this post is about –applying what you’re learning.