Copyright 2019 Theresa Harvard Johnson
We can all learn – not just from the people we choose to learn from, but from everyone and absolutely every situation around us.
Prophetic scribes, based on Matthew 13:52 principles and the Ezra Pattern, should long to develop into Sons who are deliberate, LIFE LONG LEARNERS. After all, some scribes are among those who will serve as teachers and guides to others.
Mark 4:25 AMP says, " For [a]whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.”"
CATCH THAT! Those who are teachable in the areas GOD has given them will be EXPANDED WITH SUPERNATURAL UNDERSTANDING! Whew… that blesses me tremendously.
It is also one of the reasons why I FIRMLY BELIEVE you can have 10 people in the same congregation or group, two soar… but the other eight remain stuck. It's not always that people "grow differently" – some people are downright UNTEACHABLE. There's much scripture to support this.
For example, Prov. 9:9 NIV says, "Give instruction to a wise man and he will become even wiser; Teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning." If this is true, then the opposite is also true.
Being teachable, as I see it, is posturing one's self to RECOGNIZE and intake wisdom, instruction and insight and to appropriate apply it to your own life without haughtiness, pride or entitlement.
Teachability MUST be cultivated.
Teachability IS NOT the ability to garner knowledge, but the ability to receive it into you and apply it so that it produces change in your life. We must make this clear on this otherwise intelligence alone will cause people to believe they are teachable.
UNTEACHABLE PEOPLE ARE OFTEN:
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Know-it-alls. They give NO ROOM to being wrong about something and will always insist that their perspective is the correct perspective.
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They REFUSE to learn anything different. Often, these people-types will live in a world of "I don't know how to do that" or "this isn't my thing" — even thought it is a necessity in their life and efforts to move forward. They literally refuse to learn because they don't want to learn.
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They FIGHT to stay in their comfort zones. Literally, they will defend their reasons for NOT LEARNING.
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Can't take help from people they consider "lower" than them or less educated. This is self explanatory.
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There is ALWAYS competition in their conversation. There is this place of making sure YOU KNOW that THEY KNOW more than you and everyone else in the room. They take pleasure in correcting individuals and the group.
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They never ask questions for their own learning in any situation where they are participants. If they do, those questions almost always lead to their "own opinions, insight and perspectives." They are more concerned with convincing the group of their opinion.
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They stick to routine and never change, even if there is a better way. They live under the cloud of "this works for me," "this is the way I've always done it," or "this gives me results." Extreme stubborness may exist. The key here is that THEY ARE UNABLE TO DROP what they have always done to implement something fresh.
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They overtalk EVERYONE. It is hard to finish a conversation with them because they ALREADY have the answer to what is being said. They are often UNABLE to practice any form of listening without infusing what "they do or have already done." Get ready to have EVERY conversation interrupted before you finish.
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They rarely admit they are wrong or that they missed it. Watch out for this one. They are very good at coloring situations and turning them into "reasons why" they missed it without ever accepting that they messed something up.
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They have blatant, identifiable cycles in their lives of standing still. No amount of help, information, resources, mentoring, coaching, etc. helps them move forward.
