Love, Learn and Live are the three characteristics of a true disciple of Christ. We are to love God and love others. This is the first and greatest commandment. But there’s more to discipleship than loving. We must be learning from God and from others. Then, we must put our love motivated lessons into action. I had coffee with my son, Chuck, last week and he really had an excellent insight into how we learn from God. I had just assumed that learning from God was reading the Bible. But he suggested that it’s responding correctly to the circumstances that God brings into our lives. Wow! Romans 8:28-29 teaches us that all things that God allows into our lives, good and bad, are there to help us become more like Jesus. Learning from God is both understanding His Word, and growing through the trials, failures, successes and victories in life. That’s how we learn from God.
The aspect of learning is learning from others. I think I’d much rather learn from reading the Bible and meditating on life situations, but the book of proverbs reminds us repeatedly of the importance of other people in our lives. Chapter 12, verse 15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” I’ve gone the way of a fool frequently in my life. I have learned over and over again how valuable it is to ask counsel from wise people before acting.
Here are some wise sayings from some wise men of the past. We should really learn from them. Winston Churchill said, “Personally I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” He also said, “The man who is too old to learn, was probably always too old to learn.” At a commencement ceremony one year, Henry Haskins said, “To the graduating class, I bequeath the good advice that I gave to the students of former years. It really is as good as new, for very few have ever used it.
I hope and pray that’s not my legacy!
Chuck
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” Proverbs 12:1