Are You Teachable?

What? You think you know everything? I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but no one knows everything. Oh, there is one, Hashem. He's omniscient. But no one else is. Even Yeshua (Jesus) isn't. He doesn't know the hour or day he will come again.

Some people rejoice in learning something new. I tend to be one of those people. I read about a lot of different things. Not about sports or entertainment. Science, history, fiction. I watch the History Channel, The Science Channel, any of those channel which carry programs based on something real.

I used to think I knew more than I did or do. Then I realized there were people who knew more about a topic than I. I began to enjoy listening to them. Learning how to do something better, about a topic I was interested in. I became teachable.

Most of us probably think we are teachable. We think we know even when we have not been trained or have any experience. It's pride that makes us unteachable. Pride is the basis for all sin but that I will write about in another blog. Humility brings about a teachable spirit.

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
In what way will he lift you up? Look at Joseph, Jacob's son. He was prideful and his brothers sold him into slavery. He became humble and learned and was lifted into a position of power enabling him to save his family during a famine.

Will you save the world by being humbly teachable? Most likely not, but you will be better liked and your witness will be stronger. You will be more effective in what you do.

I do deep water aqua aerobic twice a week. The leader has had no training or experience. Another woman who has a certificate in water aerobic instruction offered her some advice. The leader wouldn't listen, rejecting all the other woman knew. Now we don't benefit from what knowledge the woman had because our leader is not teachable. If we say anything to our leader we may lose her because she may take offense. How prideful and stupid. We who take the class can see it. Many of us know more than the leader does. We would all be better off if the leader became wise and willing to learn.

Do you take instruction well? Are you willing to learn a different way of doing something? Do you seek to find out more about anything?

Again a verse from James... 3:13
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.