[x_custom_headline type=”left” level=”h4″ looks_like=”h4″]I believe I am safe in saying that a large number of the Body of Christ has an unteachable spirit. And because of this, it is as if they live their lives shrouded with a fog that keeps them blinded to the Truth of God’s Word, as well as to the plan and purposes of God for their lives.[/x_custom_headline]
The unteachable refuse to listen and follow instructions. And because of this, they just keep banging their heads against the wall, insistent on doing things their own way. Their way has never even once produced the results they were after, yet for some inexplicable reason they reject God’s ways and keep doing things their own way, anyway.
Here is what the Bible has to say about this:
[x_blockquote cite=”Proverbs 1:5 AMP” type=”left”]“The wise also will hear and increase in learning, and the person of understanding will acquire skill and attain to sound counsel [so that he may be able to steer his course rightly]”[/x_blockquote]
A wise person wants to hear and increase in learning. Yet sadly, this isn’t the case with everyone. Not all Christians have a teachable spirit, so they remain ignorant. And this ignorance becomes a burden that drains their spiritual strength from their lives, a little here, and a little there, until they have no strength remaining in them at all.
[x_blockquote cite=”Hosea 4:6a KJV” type=”left”]“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee….”[/x_blockquote]
It’s very difficult for pastors to get someone with an unteachable spirit to be faithful in church attendance, for example. Why should they come regularly, they think they already know everything. And if the pastor begins to preach on a basic Bible doctrine, the unteachable develop an, “I’ve already heard that, I already know that,” attitude.
The reason I believe so many Christians are resistant in this area is that being a teachable person means they must also have a willingness to change. To really grow up spiritually, requires change in us.
With this in mind, imagine if the tax professional who filed your income taxes each year was five years behind on the tax laws. This individual would complete your taxes incorrectly, which may create a very costly problem for you with the IRS. It is for this reason that you would have no respect for a tax preparer who had an unteachable spirit.
And what about your family medical doctor? What if he has an unteachable spirit? What if he decides not to keep up with medical discoveries, techniques and medications? I wouldn’t imagine that you would continue to have your family be seen by a physician who was out of date with his particular profession.
Even though people understand this when it comes to doctors and lawyers and tax professionals, they can’t seem to accept it when it comes to them. An unteachable spirit is a weight that is hindering your life in substantial ways.
For a believer, this heavy weight of ignorance is the result of a refusal to be a doer of the Word of God (James 1:22-25). But the only way to come out of the fog that an unteachable spirit produces, is by committing yourself to being a doer of the Word, and not a hearer only. Those who are faithful to the Word of God, and continue in it, find that the hindrance of ignorance begins to fall away.
Many people believe that if they commit themselves to being a doer of the Word of God that it will somehow drain their life. But this isn’t true at all. In fact, this is one of the major keys for believers to become strong in the Lord. Look below at the instructions the Lord gave to Joshua as further proof of this.
[x_blockquote cite=”Joshua 1:7-9 KJV” type=”left”]“7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. 8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”[/x_blockquote]
Submit yourself to God and resist that unteachable spirit. And submit to your pastor, too. Get committed to your church, and faithfully attend each of the weekly services. And then determine to apply all that you are learning from the Word to your life immediately. Because if you do, the fog will lift from your life, and you will begin to see clearly all of the wonderful, life-changing things the Lord has made available to you. Your best days are still ahead. So continue to learn and grow and advance in your walk with the Lord, until He comes.