Teachable and Humble

July 23, 2020

If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding. Proverbs 15:32 NLT

Being teachable is another one of the secrets to wise living. Teachability is impossible without humility. Steve Harper shares, “Humility can be described in many ways, but it is the ability to live a life that does not become judge and jury over anyone else. It is the God-given ability to hold convictions without turning them into hammers to smash those who look at life differently than we do.” Clearly, the teachable spirit that comes from humility is impossible until you are willing to listen, learn, grow, and be open to suggestions and corrections from other people. You don’t know it all, you don’t have a clear channel to all knowledge, and you can’t act like you know it all, either! The benefits of being teachable and humble are huge:

People will like you better. Proverbs 15:12 says, “Conceited people do not like to be corrected; they never ask for advice from those who are wiser.”Pride is actually born from insecurity. Much of the time our apparent arrogance and lack of humility comes from fear that we will look like we don’t know much. But people will always like us better and feel more attracted to and safe with us if we are able to be humble and unafraid to ask for help and wisdom or admit when we are wrong.

You’ll increase in wisdom. Proverbs 15:32 says, “If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.”The teachable and humble are continual learners because they are open to other opinions, and they are willing to hear where they may be wrong and receive correction. They recognize that everyone is uninformed, just on different subjects. That’s why we all need each other. None of us have the time in life to learn everything from personal trial and error. It’s wiser to learn from the experience of others. The way to do that is by learning to ask questions, receive correction and input—be teachable.

Conflict will diminish. Proverbs 13:10a says, “Pride only leads to arguments.”Anytime you are in an argument, you can be sure that pride is there. You disagree with me, I don’t feel like you have anything to teach me, and so we are off to the races. Teachable people don’t argue much, not because they are pushovers, but because they are respectfully willing to give another person space and time to share.

God wants us to be like little children. Children are teachable, eager to learn, and non-defensive. I can become wise by being like that.

• Consider how you react when someone expresses a contrary opinion or corrects you. Are you teachable?
• Think about a recent argument. Did either of you demonstrate teachability and humility?