If I could explain everything perfectly to my students but did not love each of them,
I might as well be talking to an empty room.
If I could find all the answers to all of the children’s problems and did not have love,
my efforts would be futile.
If I could buy every kind of educational aid but did not have love for my students, it
would be a complete waste.
Love is patient when it is necessary to repeat an instruction over and over.
Love is kind when an irate parent accuses or berates other teachers or me.
Love is not jealous when another teacher has an entire class of well-behaved,
extremely intelligent children.
Love is not proud and boastful when all my students learn their memory verses.
Love is willing to yield my schedule and plans to meet the children’s needs.
Love does not scream at my students when they misbehave but seeks to be patient
with them.
Love does not tell others about the students’ personal lives.
Love keeps trying even when it seems a student will not follow the rules.
Teaching methods, bulletin boards, and activity books will eventually be discarded,
but love is eternal.
Three things I have learned through teaching—endurance, patience, and love—but
the greatest of these is love.