Each of us has a spirit inside. It is that part of us that is alive. James 2:26 says that our body, without the spirit, is dead. As Christians, we understand that we are spirit beings, not just physical or mental beings. The students we teach are spiritual beings. Educators spend much time planning to educate the mind and train the body, but very little time training a student's spirit.

 

The primary focus of spirit-directed education is on training the recreated spirit and releasing the power of the Holy Spirit. To fully understand spirit-directed education, we must know more about our spirit.

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The human body will die one day; all mental functioning will stop. Yet, the spirit will live forever. We need to spend more time training a student's spirit so they can live above all the pressures and circumstances of this world. In John 17:16, Jesus said, “They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”  We are just passing through this world, just like Jesus.

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Our body is like an earth suit with a spirit inside. Or like a hand in a glove. Once the hand is removed from the glove, the glove is lifeless.  We’re on this earth for a very short period of time.

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The spirit inside you and each of your students is the same spirit God breathed into Adam. God formed Adam from the dust and dirt of the earth. It was a cold, lifeless body until God breathed into Adam the “breath of life” (Gen 2:7). At that moment, Adam became a living being. The unseen human spirit gave Adam, you, and your students the unique ability to comprehend and understand all that God created (Job 32:8, 18).

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The book examines the role of the human conscience, the recreated spirit, the human will, and the Holy Spirit, and how they interrelate in Spirit-directed education. The author shows how academic and behavioral change begins inside and produces change on the outside. Change requires a willing mind, follows the perception of the recreated spirit, requires submission of the will, new ways of thinking, and the ability to deal with a rebellious body.

 

The book is divided into four Chapters, each having three to five critical topics. Chapter one presents Spirit-directed education as a new approach focused on educating a child's spirit.

 

Chapter two presents strategies for establishing and maintaining a Spirit-directed classroom—going beyond the expected, creating a climate of change, raising awareness of God, setting up an orderly environment, teaming up with the Holy Spirit, releasing the anointing, speaking words that bring success, exercising authority, and more.

 

Chapter three focuses on Spirit-directed education and the teacher. Readers will learn the nine ingredients that produce a Spirit-directed teacher, as well as thirteen expectations of a Spirit-directed teacher. Readers will find out how to embrace the work of the Holy Spirit in the classroom.

 

The final Chapter focuses on Spirit-directed education and the student. It teaches Christian educators how to help students renew their minds and feed their new nature. You will learn eight methods for training students on how to hate evil. Other topics address training the student's recreated spirit by developing sensitivity to the voice of the Holy Spirit, emphasizing boundaries and expectations, and teaching students to respond to conviction. Readers will learn five strategies to encourage right speech, foster a "can-do" attitude, and build a positive self-image. Finally, the author provides seven strategies for Christian educators to build a student's positive spirit-image. Every Christian educator should have a copy of this book. As they implement the content of these volumes in their classrooms and schools, students will live above the influences of this present world and become mighty in spirit.