When is it that we decide that needing to learn something is a sign of weakness? As a child we unabashedly ask for explanation when we don’t understand a concept or don’t know a word. Yet somewhere around age 13 we begin to feel that knowing everything is what is expected. We stop asking questions in class for fear of being mocked. We pull back on our relationships with adults so that we don’t look like goodie goodies. Therefore, forgoing anything that they could impart to or teach us. Unfortunately, it’s hard to reinstitute the previous attitude toward life. It takes a serious and concerted effort. It takes a humility and a willingness to “look stupid” among all of our peers who still seem to know everything.
However, the benefits of humbly asking for what we don’t know are so great. We are able to gain new insights, accept before unseen truth, and turn to others with an attitude of sincere help rather than arrogant condescension. Only if I see my own deficiency more clearly will I increase in patience and love for the deficiency I see in others. How could I judge and badger others if I know their plight? That is what support groups are built around. People sharing the same struggle and gaining strength from one another as they share their failings and successes in an environment of encouragement and understanding. Maybe the key to loving each other in a way that lets the world know we belong to Jesus and follow His way is the art of living like a child.
Matthew 18:2-4 ESV
And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Some great thoughts here. I know I wrestle with this even as I go to God’s Word. I approach it sometimes like a know-it-all, when all I really know is how much I need the Holy Spirit to open my eyes.
Thanks for the reminder to be humble.
Thank you, love.