"To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction."
Proverbs 12:1
If you're not interested in learning, then there's really not much I can say or do to get you to learn. However, if you are interested in learning, if the topic is something you are interested in, there will be no stopping that person from learning. They will buy books, magazines, DVD's, anything they can get their hands on in order to become more knowledgeable in the topic. Have you ever seen this happen before? A person may not be interested in history but give them a biography of a famous sports figure and they devour the book in short order. When the topic is interesting to the person, their heart is into learning more about the subject. You can actually tell how much their heart is into the subject by their actions.
We all probably had someone in school that appeared to only be there because their parents forced them to go. They had no interest in learning at all and in many cases this was very apparent in the way the acted out in school. I can recall a very rebellious individual that I grew up with that was always instigating problems, causing drama, rebelling, and therefore spent a great deal of their time in the principal's office. Their heart was not interested in learning anything - or maybe their heart wasn't interested in hearing that they needed to learn something because that would imply that they didn't already know it all. (see Proverbs 1 for more info on the know-it-all)
Learning requires a persons heart to be open to hearing that they're not doing something the way that it should be done in order to get the best possible results. When someone is learning, it usually means that they are trying new approaches and comparing the results to the expected outcome. If the outcome doesn't match the expected results, then changes are made and they try again. Those changes are considered to be "corrections" or sometimes referred to as "discipline". We sometimes consider discipline to be more action related and correction to be more adjustment related but really this is how learning occurs!! In order to be able to improve, a person must be open to hearing that their best attempts fell short of the goal and here's how you can do better. Anyone that has a problem with constructive criticism, correction, or discipline has a problem with pride.
Sometimes this carries over into adulthood and can be an attitude issue that is passed from generation to generation. Have you ever seen someone try to put together a recently purchased item? Whenever there is "Some Assembly Required" there will always be an instruction manual included or available online. Many times I've watched a person struggling to assemble the item and have asked "Where are the instructions?" The instructions will be over in the pile of trash waiting to be discarded. After reviewing the instructions, we'll typically find some assumptions were made early in the assembly process that were incorrect. There may be a specific order in which things need to go together in order to get other pieces in place later on. When the instructions aren't followed, there will be "extra" pieces left over. This may or may not impact the overall life of the product but one thing is for certain; the maker meant for it to be done differently in order to receive the intended outcome.
So it is with life. Our maker has provided us with a manual for our lives. The Bible is our instruction manual. The contents of the Bible guide us through our lives so we can have the wisdom to make godly decisions that keep us growing closer to God. When we have a heart for learning how best to live our lives, we will consult the only true manual for our lives and follow its instructions so we don't have to tear our lives apart and start over or so we don't have extra pieces left over. When we follow the instruction manual for our life, we are more likely to be able to identify problem areas early and avoid them completely. But it takes a heart of learning in order to realize that we need direction: that we need help.
Not to worry, God helps us there as well. When we become too prideful and arrogant, He provides us the opportunity to start over. Because He loves us more than we can possibly imagine, He places learning opportunities (sometimes painful learning opportunities) in our lives so we can learn that we don't know it all. He is testing us. When we pick up the pieces - will we consult the manual? When our life falls apart, will we consult the maker this time? Or will we need another learning opportunity soon? How many times do we need to tear our lives apart and start over before we realize, or accept, that we don't know it all? Will we have enough lifetime left to get on the right path: the one that leads to God? Will we allow ourselves to be instructed by the almighty maker of the universe? Or do we tell God "You're not the boss of me!" or "I don't need you to tell me how to live my life!" How many other lives are going to be crushed or destroyed by your arrogance?
Remember, the way of the world is not the way of God. God loves us so much that He sent His one and only son to earth to save us from our prideful or sinful nature so that we can learn His ways and live with Him for all eternity. Satan has other plans for us. He wants to keep us from God. God has Satan on a leash at the moment. He uses Satan to test us; to bring learning opportunities to us: to see if we are willing to change our heart or our path. Satan also is allowed to tempt us and provide us with options that will not be best for us. God wants us to choose the right path because of our desire to be with God not because we're forced down a path. Satan provides us many bad choices through peer pressure, through the media, through the common thinking of many lost souls. Keep in mind, the path that leads to destruction is very smooth, very wide and traveled by many. This means that the easy path is most often not the right path. Society (or the world, or the majority) will tell us that Christians are very narrow minded and out of touch with reality but we know the path to heaven is very narrow, difficult and traveled by far fewer than expected.
There is a way that seems right to man that in the end leads to destruction.
If society is telling you that you're on the wrong path, you're most likely on the right path. Consult your instruction manual to be sure. Consult it often to remain sure.
The Shepherd
Return to The Proverbs Challenge
Proverbs 12:1
If you're not interested in learning, then there's really not much I can say or do to get you to learn. However, if you are interested in learning, if the topic is something you are interested in, there will be no stopping that person from learning. They will buy books, magazines, DVD's, anything they can get their hands on in order to become more knowledgeable in the topic. Have you ever seen this happen before? A person may not be interested in history but give them a biography of a famous sports figure and they devour the book in short order. When the topic is interesting to the person, their heart is into learning more about the subject. You can actually tell how much their heart is into the subject by their actions.
We all probably had someone in school that appeared to only be there because their parents forced them to go. They had no interest in learning at all and in many cases this was very apparent in the way the acted out in school. I can recall a very rebellious individual that I grew up with that was always instigating problems, causing drama, rebelling, and therefore spent a great deal of their time in the principal's office. Their heart was not interested in learning anything - or maybe their heart wasn't interested in hearing that they needed to learn something because that would imply that they didn't already know it all. (see Proverbs 1 for more info on the know-it-all)
Learning requires a persons heart to be open to hearing that they're not doing something the way that it should be done in order to get the best possible results. When someone is learning, it usually means that they are trying new approaches and comparing the results to the expected outcome. If the outcome doesn't match the expected results, then changes are made and they try again. Those changes are considered to be "corrections" or sometimes referred to as "discipline". We sometimes consider discipline to be more action related and correction to be more adjustment related but really this is how learning occurs!! In order to be able to improve, a person must be open to hearing that their best attempts fell short of the goal and here's how you can do better. Anyone that has a problem with constructive criticism, correction, or discipline has a problem with pride.
Sometimes this carries over into adulthood and can be an attitude issue that is passed from generation to generation. Have you ever seen someone try to put together a recently purchased item? Whenever there is "Some Assembly Required" there will always be an instruction manual included or available online. Many times I've watched a person struggling to assemble the item and have asked "Where are the instructions?" The instructions will be over in the pile of trash waiting to be discarded. After reviewing the instructions, we'll typically find some assumptions were made early in the assembly process that were incorrect. There may be a specific order in which things need to go together in order to get other pieces in place later on. When the instructions aren't followed, there will be "extra" pieces left over. This may or may not impact the overall life of the product but one thing is for certain; the maker meant for it to be done differently in order to receive the intended outcome.
So it is with life. Our maker has provided us with a manual for our lives. The Bible is our instruction manual. The contents of the Bible guide us through our lives so we can have the wisdom to make godly decisions that keep us growing closer to God. When we have a heart for learning how best to live our lives, we will consult the only true manual for our lives and follow its instructions so we don't have to tear our lives apart and start over or so we don't have extra pieces left over. When we follow the instruction manual for our life, we are more likely to be able to identify problem areas early and avoid them completely. But it takes a heart of learning in order to realize that we need direction: that we need help.
Not to worry, God helps us there as well. When we become too prideful and arrogant, He provides us the opportunity to start over. Because He loves us more than we can possibly imagine, He places learning opportunities (sometimes painful learning opportunities) in our lives so we can learn that we don't know it all. He is testing us. When we pick up the pieces - will we consult the manual? When our life falls apart, will we consult the maker this time? Or will we need another learning opportunity soon? How many times do we need to tear our lives apart and start over before we realize, or accept, that we don't know it all? Will we have enough lifetime left to get on the right path: the one that leads to God? Will we allow ourselves to be instructed by the almighty maker of the universe? Or do we tell God "You're not the boss of me!" or "I don't need you to tell me how to live my life!" How many other lives are going to be crushed or destroyed by your arrogance?
Remember, the way of the world is not the way of God. God loves us so much that He sent His one and only son to earth to save us from our prideful or sinful nature so that we can learn His ways and live with Him for all eternity. Satan has other plans for us. He wants to keep us from God. God has Satan on a leash at the moment. He uses Satan to test us; to bring learning opportunities to us: to see if we are willing to change our heart or our path. Satan also is allowed to tempt us and provide us with options that will not be best for us. God wants us to choose the right path because of our desire to be with God not because we're forced down a path. Satan provides us many bad choices through peer pressure, through the media, through the common thinking of many lost souls. Keep in mind, the path that leads to destruction is very smooth, very wide and traveled by many. This means that the easy path is most often not the right path. Society (or the world, or the majority) will tell us that Christians are very narrow minded and out of touch with reality but we know the path to heaven is very narrow, difficult and traveled by far fewer than expected.
There is a way that seems right to man that in the end leads to destruction.
If society is telling you that you're on the wrong path, you're most likely on the right path. Consult your instruction manual to be sure. Consult it often to remain sure.
The Shepherd
Return to The Proverbs Challenge
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