The Classroom Didn’t Change — I Did
In this episode, I share what God has been walking me through over the past few months in my classroom. Through time in the Word, prayer, fasting, and sitting with 1 Corinthians 13, God began to show me areas in my heart that needed to shift.
The classroom situations didn’t fully change but my perspective did.
I talk about how God used everyday classroom moments to reveal what was in me, refine my responses, and teach me what it truly looks like to walk in love as a teacher.
If you’re in a challenging classroom season, feeling tired, or sensing that God is working on your heart, this episode is an encouragement to let Him continue the work.
Growth doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means God is still working.
💜 Stay Connected & Supported: If you’re needing prayer, encouragement, or a place to reset, I’ve created spaces where you can be poured into:
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Transcript
Hello and welcome back to the Transformational Teacher Podcast.
Speaker A:I am your host, detoya, and I am so thankful that you are here and I hope all is well your way.
Speaker A:But if not, I am praying that it gets better.
Speaker A:Today's episode, it is more of me sharing some behind the scenes things that are happening, things that God has been walking me through.
Speaker A:God has been showing me me, and all I can say is ouch.
Speaker A:But I'm thankful that he loves me so much that he revealed certain things to me so I can move forward.
Speaker A:Here's one thing that he is dealing with me about is that I need to walk in more love.
Speaker A:Now, when I heard this, I was at work when I first heard it.
Speaker A:But here's the thing.
Speaker A:It wasn't combination.
Speaker A:It was more of a conviction that you need to walk in more love.
Speaker A:It was the Holy Spirit helping me to see myself and helping me to see where I was at and reminding me that I am loved so much that again, he doesn't want me to stay there.
Speaker A:He wants me to move forward and walk in more love.
Speaker A:Walk in love his way.
Speaker A:Walk in the God kind of love.
Speaker A:Not the world love, but God's love.
Speaker A:And here is the thing.
Speaker A:Like I said, he spoke to me about this at work, but it has also been coming to me through different people, through my pastor, the messages he's been preaching a while back through people in my world, through fasting and honestly, my daily interactions with God, the daily interactions I'm having inside the classroom.
Speaker A:God is sometimes like, come on, Detoya, you can do it.
Speaker A:Let's walk in more love.
Speaker A:And the best way I can describe it is that God has been giving me a front row seat to what is in me.
Speaker A:It was almost like him saying, let's look at this together and let's deal with it.
Speaker A:But here is the thing, let's deal with it my way, Detoya.
Speaker A:Let's repent, let's shift and let's correct and move forward.
Speaker A:And one chapter that I was encouraged to read was First Corinthians 13 and oh boy, it has definitely helped me see things more clearer.
Speaker A:Now I again, am I getting it right at all times?
Speaker A:Not all the time.
Speaker A:But as I've been sitting with First Corinthians 13 and listening to what God has been saying, my perspective has started to shift.
Speaker A:It's starting to change.
Speaker A:I am starting to see my students differently, seeing more of the good in them and not taking things so personally.
Speaker A:I realize that love isn't just something we talk about.
Speaker A:It.
Speaker A:It shows up in how we respond, how we respond to our students, how we respond to our co workers, our loved ones.
Speaker A:It shows up how we correct things.
Speaker A:Even when things are challenging, even when behaviors are taking place, when we are acting in God's love, when we're responding his way, it's going to show up.
Speaker A:It shows up in how we speak and how we lead.
Speaker A:And here is the thing.
Speaker A:As I've been meditating on First Corinthians 13, the classroom situation didn't fully shift.
Speaker A:Now there has been some change, but it hasn't fully shifted the way I want it to.
Speaker A:But my perspective has been changing.
Speaker A:My attitude has started to change and that has helped me to show up differently.
Speaker A:Now I am showing more love when the people walking in my classroom, I'm talking to them more.
Speaker A:Even the midst of the things that are taking place, I am allowing people in the to help me more.
Speaker A:And here's the thing.
Speaker A:The same students, they're still in my classroom.
Speaker A:The same challenges, they're pretty much still there.
Speaker A:But again, I am responding differently now.
Speaker A:Does this mean I get it right 100% of the time?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:It simply means I'm better now than I was before and I am growing.
Speaker A:And I thank God for the growth.
Speaker A:I thank God that again, he loves me so much and that he showed me me.
Speaker A:And I encourage you, allow God to thoroughly examine you and to show you what you need to work on.
Speaker A:During this season, God has been reminding me that once we receive the Father's love, our responses again, they begin to change.
Speaker A:We start responding God's way, not the world's way.
Speaker A:That's part of our inheritance to show up his way, to love his way, learning to love the way he loves.
Speaker A:This journey with First Corinthians 13, it has shown me that there is always room to grow in love.
Speaker A:Not from a place of condemnation, but from a place of maturity and abiding in Him.
Speaker A:And I'm learning that the more time I spend with God in His Word, in His presence, the more his love flows through me and the more open I am to his guidance.
Speaker A:And I'm walking in more obedience.
Speaker A:Let me give you an example of what I mean.
Speaker A:One morning on the way to work, it was a Friday.
Speaker A:I can see it now.
Speaker A:And honestly, I wasn't in the best place the day before.
Speaker A:It was heavy on me.
Speaker A:I was tired, I was drained.
Speaker A:And honestly, I went to bed complaining.
Speaker A:I went to bed with a weight on me.
Speaker A:And here's the thing, I woke up complaining in my mind now there were certain things I didn't let come out my mouth that morning.
Speaker A:But the thing was, I was complaining.
Speaker A:I was stewing over it in my mind.
Speaker A:Then on my way to work, me and my husband, we prayed.
Speaker A:He called me.
Speaker A:And as we started praying like we do daily and after we finished praying, I continued driving.
Speaker A:And I kept hearing in my spirit, no more stewing on what happened yesterday.
Speaker A:No more complaining.
Speaker A:Yes, it happened.
Speaker A:But let's move forward.
Speaker A:Let's not grow weary and well doing detoya.
Speaker A:Let's do this together.
Speaker A:Allow me to strengthen you.
Speaker A:Allow me to energize you, to go forth inside of that classroom and make the impact of I have called you to make.
Speaker A:You're not doing it in your own strength.
Speaker A:You are going to allow me to do it through you.
Speaker A:You're going to allow me to love your students the way that they need to be loved.
Speaker A:You are going to teach them the way I have called you to teach them.
Speaker A:And then I heard God say these five words.
Speaker A:They were simple, but they were powerful and they were needed.
Speaker A:I heard the today is a clean slate.
Speaker A:And he reminded me again that we weren't going in complaining because complaining doesn't help.
Speaker A:What helps is processing our thoughts, but not on our own and not from a fleshly mindset, processing with God, processing from a spiritual perspective, in even processing with others who will give sound counsel and wisdom.
Speaker A:So we have to be discerning in who we talk to when things are going on.
Speaker A:God has began reminding me to see each day as a new day, to see my students the way he sees them, not to hold them to what happened yesterday.
Speaker A:Cuz honestly, I don't want to be held to what has happened on yesterday.
Speaker A:I don't want that to happen to me, so why do it to them?
Speaker A:But to walk into each day with fresh eyes, seeing things his way from his perspective, not my own natural perspective.
Speaker A:To remember that these are his children.
Speaker A:He created them and he has entrusted them to me in this season.
Speaker A:And I have to steward my students, my classroom, the way he has called me to do it his way, not my way.
Speaker A:I have to sit my flesh down and allow him to rise up and do a great work through me.
Speaker A:And honestly, God has been reminding me that he placed each one of them in my classroom.
Speaker A:Not just for me to impact them, for.
Speaker A:For me to grow.
Speaker A:Also because I tell you, they have been making an impact on my life.
Speaker A:It's some days where it's hard, but one of them can say something and it can brighten my day.
Speaker A:So again, they are making an impact on me.
Speaker A:Even the most challenging ones, they have been making an impact.
Speaker A:So I started thanking God after, you know, he started talking to me.
Speaker A:I said, okay, it's time for me to thank God for all that he has done.
Speaker A:Thanking him for what he's been doing in me this year.
Speaker A:Thanking him for the challenges and how they have not overtaken me, but how he has been helping me and every step of the way and how he has sent help in so many forms.
Speaker A:I am so thankful that God has not left me in this challenging season alone.
Speaker A:But he has been right there by my side.
Speaker A:He has been walking with me, he has been talking to me, he has been guiding my footsteps.
Speaker A:And again, he sent forth help.
Speaker A:Help that I didn't know was coming.
Speaker A:Because again this year, I. I am being pruned, I am being refined, I am being stretched, and I'm being drawn closer to Him.
Speaker A:And I truly believe that in situations like this, we can either draw nearer to God or pull away, depending on how we allow it to affect us.
Speaker A:Now, do I get it right every day?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:But my aim is to do better each and every day.
Speaker A:My goal is to try my best to.
Speaker A:To go forth in that classroom representing God the way he has called me, to represent Him.
Speaker A:To reflect on the days when I noticed I wasn't doing things his way.
Speaker A:To ask God, God, how can I respond better tomorrow?
Speaker A:To respond out of love, to release control.
Speaker A:Cuz honestly, sometimes I want the control, but I know God can handle it better and to allow him to have his way.
Speaker A:And every single day.
Speaker A:And you know what?
Speaker A:That particular day, after God, you know, was talking to me in the car, I went into work and I actually had a better day.
Speaker A:And it happened because I surrendered.
Speaker A:I did what he instructed me to do and I'm so thankful that I did that.
Speaker A:Another thing I'm learning to do is when I notice my mindset starting to slip back into complaining and it has, I stop and say, God, I'm expecting the best.
Speaker A:Regardless of what takes place, regardless of what I'm faced with.
Speaker A:I am expecting that you are going to help me through this situation.
Speaker A:Because God is faithful and he has seen me through before and he will see me through again.
Speaker A:Because I tell you, God has seen me through some challenging times.
Speaker A:Even in life, there's been times where I'm just like God, I don't know what else to do.
Speaker A:But God, he helped me to get through that.
Speaker A:So I know he can help me get through this.
Speaker A:So if you're listening to this and you're in a hard or maybe just a challenging season.
Speaker A:Or you may be tired.
Speaker A:You may feel like you're drained.
Speaker A:God, he's revealing things about your heart that need to be refined and things he's asking you to pay attention to.
Speaker A:Allow him to prune you.
Speaker A:Allow him to show you you and allow him to help you get to the next place he wants you to get to.
Speaker A:Don't jump out the fire.
Speaker A:Allow him to refine you.
Speaker A:Allow him to prune you.
Speaker A:Allow him to do a great work inside of you.
Speaker A:So again, I want to encourage you.
Speaker A:Let him do a great work in you.
Speaker A:Let him do his will in your life.
Speaker A:And again, as he shows you, you remember he's showing it to you because he wants you to become the child of God.
Speaker A:He has created you to be.
Speaker A:So again, trust Him.
Speaker A:I want you to sit with First Corinthians 13 not as a measuring stick, but as a mirror.
Speaker A:Growth doesn't begin.
Speaker A:It doesn't mean that you're failing.
Speaker A:It means God is still working and he's doing it in you.
Speaker A:He is doing this for you.
Speaker A:He is doing this because he loves you.
Speaker A:And everything that God does is done out of love.
Speaker A:So let's continue walking along this journey with our eyes fixed on our Heavenly Father, allowing Him to search our hearts daily and refine us as needed.
Speaker A:Again, let's do this.
Speaker A:Let's do God's will each and every day.
Speaker A:And if you would like to continue growing and praying alongside other faith filled teachers, I would love for you to join me inside of the Teaching with Jesus community.
Speaker A:I will put the link in the show notes and again, I am looking forward to connecting with you.
Speaker A:And as always, thank you so much for taking out your time to listen to this podcast.
Speaker A:I will speak with you all later.
