Pastor's Points July 2017
Dear Church Family,
Are you a teachable person? This question is very important to answer especially as we consider our Wisdom/Folly sermon series we are in currently. We learned in Proverbs chapter nine that a fool is “unteachable”. He will not listen. This person is determined to live in human foolishness instead of God’s truth. This is so sad. A quote that I shared in this first sermon is so telling to how we often look at ourselves. ‘Too often we change jobs, friends, or spouses instead of changing ourselves.”- Akbarali Jetha. We must be teachable if we are going to apply God’s wisdom to our lives. Pastor James Macdonald shares with us a five-point quiz to find out how teachable we are. He shares…
Proverbs 17:10 says, “A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool.” In other words, you can get more ROI (Return on Investment) from a wise person in one gentle conversation than you can gain from a fool by whacking him with a board a hundred times. Which are you?
If you’re not sure how you rate on the teachability meter, take this five-point quiz:
- I know I’m teachable when people give me input. When people feel free to give you a word of improvement, it’s a good sign that you’re teachable. Nobody wants to risk cleaning up a meltdown if the person can’t receive a difficult word. Don’t try to tell him he’s not headed in the right direction because he’ll bite your head off.The fool is always deeply persuaded that what he is doing is right. A teachable person will receive input.
- I know I’m teachable when I see measurable growth and character development in myself. If you’re changing for the good, then you’re teachable. If you’re not the same person you were last year at this time, godly instruction has produced results in your life and there’s growth because of it.
- I know I’m teachable when I don’t have to answer a critic with a defense.More often than I ever want to be, I’m in the uneasy position of giving people input. As hard as that is, I love to sit down with a person who can hear a difficult word with an open heart and without defensiveness. It’s been my repeated observation that those who are receptive to criticism flourish!
- I know I’m teachable when I don’t have to criticize back. The classic symptom of an unteachable person is that they will listen to what you say, all the while framing their comeback, “Now let me tell yousomething . . .” Can you keep your defenses down and pride in check?
- I know I’m teachablewhen I’m learning new ways to grow. If people have been telling you the same stuff for years, you’re not teachable. If you’ve grown out of those old issues and are now on to new lessons, you’re on the right track.
Are you teachable? Ask someone who knows you well for their honest evaluation. And take their response to heart.
I love you and I love being your pastor!
Pastor Alan