What might you receive from a student in ISS?
This year I took on a second job as the In- School Suspension ( ISS) teacher at Sonoraville High School. I know for many people, this would sound crazy. So does youth ministry to most people. Even Mr. Potts, the principal, was a little surprised that I was interested in the job at first. He warned me, that “this wouldn’t be like going on a trip with my church youth group.” Jokingly I replied, “You’ve never been on a trip with my youth group.” What I have found in my class, many times, are good kids who remind me a little of myself when I was a younger. They just have stupid moments.
The most important part of my day is making sure the students complete assignments from their teachers. Some of the students are a lot like me with my paperwork. Then others are very sharp and finish assignments rather quickly. This could be part of the reason they’re in ISS to begin with. Some students finish assignments quickly, and find themselves bored at times. The boredom leads to, well, you know… I always have writing assignments of my own to give to them for those times when they have completed all their other work.
One of those assignments is that I have them copy the lyrics of a song by Matthew West titled “Forgiveness.” I wish I had space to give the lyrics to you, but you’ll have to look them up. When they finish writing the words to the song, I ask them to write the name of the one person whom they have the hardest time forgiving. It’s interesting to see what I get back; from threeyear- old little brothers, to grandmothers, and everywhere in between and outside family.
Giving forgiveness is without a doubt the hardest thing for anyone to do, lost people and Christians alike. It should come as no surprise that Jesus tells Christians to forgive those who mistreat them. After all, our Salvation is based on forgiveness. Christ, through His sacrifice for us, paid the penalty of death on our behalf; so that we could be forgiven by Him. If Christ, who lived a sinless life and died a horrifying death so we wouldn’t have to, forgives us; how could we not forgive those who have hurt us? And why does Christ offer this forgiveness? Partly this is for our benefit, but primarily, it is for the enjoyment that God experiences when a lost person receives the forgiveness offered to everyone.
When my students ( or we) make the conscious decision to really forgive those who have hurt them most, the benefit is more to them than the person they are forgiving. As the song says, “It can clear the bitterness away. The prisoner that it really frees is you.” So how many times is forgiveness required of us? In Matthew 18: 21,22 we read, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Forgive fully and often. Be Blessed.