The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning a man from the snares of death. Proverbs 13:14
Learning has always been something exciting for me. I think I am even more excited to learn today than I ever was as a student in school. I find myself ever more curious about this world God has given us.
We all have room to grow and to learn. It doesn’t matter how old we are. Success or failure is birthed out of our attitude towards learning. The moment we stop learning is the moment we stop growing and our ability to make a difference is greatly diminished? The moment we stop learning is the moment we get stuck where we are at.
Maybe you know someone who has stopped learning. Words used to identify people who have stopped learning are words like stubborn and know-it-all. These are not words we want to be identified by.
So are you teachable? Are you learning? Are you growing? No matter how you answered those questions, I would encourage you towards the following.
#1 Renew your commitment to learn. This might mean learning a new skill. It might be learning to play a musical instrument, learning to a program on the computer, or learning to communicate better with your spouse. There are always new challenges to master that will help to keep you humble. Open a book. Take a class at the community college. Sign up for a Bible Study at Church. Sign up for dancing lessons. The possibilities are endless.
#2 Renew your commitment to relearn. This is similar to the first, but this is more about mastering the skills we already have. Open yourself up to relearn in an area you already consider yourself an expert. It is said that the average job will require learning 20% new knowledge every year. So if you never learn anything new, you would be 100% less effective in 5 years. It is said the knowledge in the tech industry doubles every 18 months. The moral of the story is we constantly need to be learning. If you find yourself easily threatened by other’s achievement, chances are your pride is closing the door on new possibilities, then you are stuck thinking you already know everything you need to know.
Don’t take anything for granted. As long as we are on this earth we still have not arrived.
