Teaching Tuesdays

The first seven verses of the book of Proverbs summarizes what the entire book is about:
"To know wisdom and instuction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion- A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, to understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."
When someone informs me that they desire to be used by God in a mighty way, I look very closely at two main things. First, does the person act as a servant. Secondly, I look to see if they have a teachable spirit. Without these two attributes, it will be extremely difficult for God to use them fully. (I will note however, that God uses whomever, whenever to accomplish His will).
I will talk about being a servant another time, rather let us focus on the "teachable spirit". The beginning of Proverbs lays out several important areas one must work on to achieve his/her full potential. He talks about knowing, which in the Hebrew specifically talks about experiential wisdom. Thus, the person will have a hands on approach, not just theoretical. He talks about the willingness to take in wise counsel. Thus, we cannot rely only on ourselves, and why would we want to anyways? He speaks as though gaining wisdom and growing in the Lord requires hard work. You bet it does! Not wasted hard work, but the ability to sieze those moments to learn. At the very last, the text states that the "fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge." Thus, the journey of gaining one's full potential stems from the LORD being at the center of that knowledge base.
I know lots of people who have great hearts and try really hard, but they are stubborn and refuse to learn. We should choose to learn every single day, but many times laziness, procrastination, and arrogance get in the way of this. If you desire to reach your full potential, then choose this day to have a teachable spirit.