A Teachable Spirit

Ask any coach what makes his best player so good, and he'll more often times than not say because he's 'coachable.' The athlete has natural skill, relentless determination, a high iq of the sport, but he's constantly seeking to improve.

During my involvement with Power to Change at Western University and Fanshawe College, discipleship was heavily pushed. If you could make time to meet up with one or two younger students on a regular basis and pour into their lives, then you should.

Selection posed a struggle for me though, who do I choose? Why him? Older students who had previously involved in the ministry voiced to me their feeling of betrayal in not being selected, and I certainly didn't want to convey that.

I did disciple younger students and continue to do so in some capacity, as well as be discipled, and here's what I've noticed.

The one characteristic that stands out most in a Christian who is growing is that they're teachable. They'll take what they learn and eagerly apply it to their life.

This isn't just limited to the realm of Christianity. Think about other areas of your life: your field of work, your hobbies, your friends. When you're hungry, you devour what you have at your disposal- experiences you can gain, books you can read, professionals you can talk to, peers you can bounce ideas off of- by whatever means.

What's different about a 'teachable' person who is a Christian from a 'teachable' person who isn't?

The basis for where knowledge is found.

Christians hold God to be the wisest, His word is the ultimate authority. God is all-knowing (Deut. 29:29, Romans 11:33).

It means that whatever you learn, regardless of the field, God is your trump card. His knowledge is unfathomable, yes, but what he does reveal to you is far greater than what man can.

In Psalm 141, David is pleading for God to answers his prayers. "Hear my voice when I call to you," he says in verse 1. But notice how David humbles himself to learn from God in the rest of the Psalm.

David asks God to set a guard over his mouth, and to keep watch over the door of his lips (Psalm 141:2).

Then in verse 5, David demonstrates most clearly what I think it means to have a teachable spirit.

"Let a righteous man strike me - it is kindness; let him rebuke me- it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it."

David desires to be rebuked- to be corrected. To him that is kindness. But he doesn't just stop there, he says for a righteous man to rebuke him is oil on his head. Oil refreshes and perfumes, and that's what reproof does, it might sting at the time, but it sweetens and renews your heart.

All this to say, reproof breeds growth, and it's all stemmed from being teachable. If David isn't willing to learn, why would he let a righteous person strike him? Why would he ask God to close his mouth?

You might not be in as much desperation as David was when he penned this Psalm, maybe you are, but are you willing to be taught? David humbles himself to learn, I find this very difficult sometimes.

I think I know enough or I'm not interested in learning more. But then all I have to do is plant myself in the book of Proverbs and I'm convicted.

Let God's counsel be your primary teacher and let His word refine whatever you learn (Acts 17:11).

The words David speaks in these eight Psalms have lifted me up so many times and helped me draw closer to God. These are probably the last Psalms recorded by David and in some ways serve as a commentary to the great Messianic promise in 2 Samuel 7:1-29.

In my first series of Blog posts for Life 100.3 I will contextualize and share what each of these Psalms means to me, with the hope that God might encourage you and direct you to the wonderful truths He reveals in these scriptures.

#teaching #learning #Psalms #discipleship