Always learning
- Jacob Ninan
The only one who can stop learning is the one who knows it all. We may never say we know it all, but we may behave as if we do! One of the marks is that we have no interest in learning, but perhaps, only in teaching others.
Sixteen times in the psalms we find this prayer to God, "Teach me." Is this your cry? This is a cry of need from one who knows that he does not know so many things, and that he is doing so many things wrong. It is not a matter of saying these words, but having this recognition about ourselves.
Jesus came to make us His disciples (Mt.28:19,20). 'Disciples' are 'learners.' Their aim is to become like the Teacher (Mt.10:25). We need to keep learning from Jesus, not to become better scholars of theology, but to become like Him in character and behaviour. For example, Jesus said that if we went to Him and learned from Him, He would make us gentle and humble in heart (Mt.11:28,29). Our need is to become like Jesus - kind, loving, merciful, gracious, compassionate, faithful, obedient, truthful, upright, sincere, etc.
The more we want to become like Jesus, we discover that we are farther from being like Jesus than we thought. This drives us to seek Him more.
If we take our eyes off from Jesus and start comparing ourselves with others, especially concerning things where we are comparatively strong, we will become complacent and self-righteous, and stop learning. Finally we will even become unteachable (Ec.4:13).
The Apostle Paul was so aware of his need, that even when his conscience was clear and it did not accuse him of any wrong that he had done, he knew that he was not perfect in God's eyes (1Co.4:4). Therefore he kept on learning.