Teachable

Teachable

One of the things I have noticed in my years working in church ministry is that you have folks who have been Christians for many years, but somewhere along the lines they stopped growing, maturing, or being teachable.  What is teachable? It's a willingness to listen, learn, and grow.

If you've ever taught a class as a teacher in the school system, Sunday School, or some other setting you know what it's like to have students who don't listen and who have no desire to learn.  It can be frustrating for the teacher, but it's also sad for the student because they are missing out on learning, growing, developing, or changing for the better.

It would seem that those who are Christians and saved would have a desire to constantly want to learn and grow in their faith and knowledge of God and His Word, but like anything many folks who are Christians can get stuck in ruts, go through the motions, lose their desire, become distracted, or even get hard-hearted. 

God's desire for us who surrender our lives to Him in salvation is to totally surrender to Him and turn our lives over to Him, but also as we began our Christian Faith journey, He also wants us to be transformed!  Our lives need to change to become more like Christ over time through His Word, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, bible Study, service, worship, and other avenues.  But for many Christians, they get caught up in the routines of "church" and traditions and busy with life and they stop growing, become set in their ways, become stagnant in faith, or stop being transformed or surrendering their will to God and when that happens we become selfish and self-focused or absorbed and stop being teachable.

We must wake up every day and surrender our will to God. We must daily take up our cross and follow God and keep our eyes, ears, minds, and especially hearts open to God's leading and teaching.  We must seek daily to be transformed and willing and desire to want to grow in our faith, grow in our knowledge of God's Word, grow in our service, grow in our worship, and grow in our giving.  We have a human nature that is sinful, easily forgets, and tends to want to go back to "self" and not God and if we don't strive to be teachable and open to God's leading on a daily basis, we are going to continue to be led by bad habits, sins, bad attitudes, narrow mind-sets, be inward focused, or let emotions, feelings, or personalities rule us instead of being ruled by God.

I want to encourage you today to never stop being teachable. Whether it's in your personal reading or study of God's Word, a daily devotional time, listening to a sermon, or sitting in a bible class or Sunday School, we truly open to learning and applying the things you learn to your life so you can be daily renewed, transformed, and surrender to the will of God.  Satan, the World, and your own flesh will never stop fighting for your attention, to distract you from God, and to use you to hurt the church. 

Let us all be willing, humble, and open to God's teaching so that we never stop learning, growing, maturing, and being used by God.

Romans 12:2(NIV)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.