… and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
–Acts 5:40-42
Somebody once told me that the only difference between preaching and teaching is that in preaching, you sweat more! Now, I don’t know if that’s always the case. But as a pastor and a teacher, I can tell you it’s not far from the truth.
Throughout the Scriptures, we see that the Bible does differentiate between preaching and teaching. And the general difference is that the teacher aims primarily at the mind while the preacher will aim more at the heart. Teaching is primarily instructional, while preaching is primarily motivational.
So often today, I hear Christians trying to diminish the value of good teaching while only being concerned with good preaching. But God is interested in your mind and he wants you to fill it with truth because the primary tactic of Satan is to fill your mind with lies.
The best answer to the devil’s lies is found in both good teaching and good preaching. So let the truth of the Word of God fill both your heart and your mind.
God made you a multi-faceted being because he wants you to use everything you are for his glory. So, as the Great Commandment says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
ALLOW GOD’S TRUTH TO FILL BOTH YOUR MIND AND YOUR HEART SO YOU CAN HONOR HIM WITH YOUR ENTIRE BEING.
