For whom are you teaching?

 ¹⁶Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. ¹⁷If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.  John 7:16-18

One of the penetrating questions those of us who teach must ask continually is: For whose honor am I speaking?

It's always difficult to evaluate our motives for the heart of a man has immense depths.  Questions like those below can be of some help:

1. Prior to speaking, are my prayers full of a deep love and concern that the people see God and His truth or are they focused on me simply speaking clearly and well?
   
2. Prior to speaking, have I prayed through the text I am teaching and allowed it to teach and recalibrate my own heart and life to it's truth?
3. Is any anxiousness or nervousness that I am feeling flowing from a fear of speaking to man or a fear of speaking for God?
   
4. When I am speaking, am I using language of guilt and pressure or am I keeping my focus on shining a light onto God and His truth allowing the Spirit of God to be the one who moves people to his desired intention? 
   
5. When I am finished teaching is my first concern whether or not the people were pleased or whether God was pleased?

I've been guilty of speaking for my own honor.  May the Church be filled with those who speak for the honor of the Lord rather than the honor of themselves.