Remaining Teachable

"Hearing and listening are not the same as learning. The mind can be aware of a truth for years while the affections remain unchanged.".

Ive been a christian for about 8 years now. When I was converted I read the Bible voraciously. I soon began to read different books by christians authors as well. Though I have only been a christian for 8 years, I often find myself not wanting to read the scriptures because "Ive already read that like a thousand times". Also, I find myself not listening to others when they share with me what God is teaching them because "I learned that like a millions years ago".

1 Corinthians 8 says this"...We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. 2 And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him." (forgive me if I am using this somewhat out of context)

My very limited knowledge has puffed me up. So much so that I often believe practically (not theologically) that Jesus' words to me are of no benefit. I am slowly learning to lean on the truth that I NEED to hear the good news of the scripture everyday, instead of looking inside myself and waiting for some strong desire to read the scriptures and meditate upon them. In many ways that has been the story of my "devotional life" over the last 8 years. "Do I feel like reading the scriptures and having my soul corrected, encouraged, rebuked, reproved, purified, challenged, etc?" More often than not my answer has been a lazy, "no".

A good analogy that comes to mind is exercize (a word that I am confident I will NEVER learn to spell for some strange reason). My mom has a membership at a gym. She never goes. Her reason for not going? She doesn't FEEL like it. The fallacy in that thinking is this: You dont go workout because you FEEL good, you go workout in the hopes that you WILL feel good as your health increases. She has confused the means and the end. Working out is not the end. "Ahh Im doing well, look at me working out!" Working out is the means to the end, namely, feeling good!

I am that way with the gospel. I have mistaken the end for the means. I thought the end was the religious work of hearing the scriptures and reading the Bible. If that were the case I HAVE accomplished my task as a Christian. Ive read the New Testament and most of the Old. But the end of the Christian life is a heart that reflects the person of Jesus. In that light it is clear that while I have read through the gospels and the letters to the churches, I have LEARNED very little of it!!! 1 Corinthians 13, the great love chapter?? Oh Ive read that perhaps hundreds of times!! How much of it do I live?? Very little!

The point is this. I must go to the scriptures and other means of grace because I recognize my need to be changed by them, not because they are the end of some religious duty. Elsewise I will not return to the scriptures to feed on them and grow by them with the Spirit's help. I will not return to worship and behold God with an open heart. Why? "Because Ive already done that many times before!" What a sorry attitude. But, this is an attitude I fight on a daily basis.

I hope my confession of sorts will help you as you struggle against these types of attitudes.