A Teachable Spirit

The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.

Proverbs 15:33

The young man sitting across the table confided, “When I was twenty-five, I thought I knew everything and was bullet proof. Nothing could hurt me, and no one could teach me anything. In the past few years I’ve discovered neither of those was true.”

He paused and then added, “Today I know how fallible I am. I realize I can learn a lot from other people. Now in each new experience I look for what God wants to teach me.”

As he talked, I thought about the difficulties I’d seen him go through. I realized he could have become bitter and hard as a result. Instead he’d chosen to be teachable.

In the trying times, he’d learned humility and gained maturity. Now he was older and wiser.

For a Christian that’s as it should be. As we grow older, we should grow wiser. However, it doesn’t always happen that way.

Sad to say, I’ve met some senior citizens who were neither wise nor humble. Their spiritual and emotional maturing hadn’t kept pace with their chronological aging.

Proverbs 15:33 says, The fear of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor. That tells us to have an attitude of respectful reverence toward God. When we do, we automatically position ourselves where we should be - humbly beneath Him. Then we become teachable.

In that posture of respect and humility we are ready to learn from God and from others.  

Father, help us be life-long learners, humble and teachable.

Carol