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Divine Love Requires Teachability & Humility
Jul 28, 2021
This Blog has been written by Ben, we are grateful for his contribution.
To learn the truth you must long to be teachable, or you can despise correction and remain ignorant. Proverbs 12:1
A fool is in love with his own opinion, but wisdom means being teachable. Proverbs 12:15
Senseless people learn their lessons the hard way, but the wise are teachable. Proverbs 21:11
Listen to the truth I speak: Whoever does not open their arms to receive God’s kingdom like a teachable child will never enter it. Mark 10:15
But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form. James 3:17
A general principle that has stood me in good stead is, “I am wrong until proven right”! The definition of humility, to which we are all called to, means “to assign a lower rank or place to yourself” and in spiritual terms, that means dying to selfish ambition and submitting to God’s will and plan for your life. In this season where we have experienced great changes in terms of COVID and a lot of uncertainty that came alongside it, we need to remain humble and teachable. So much nonsense was and is being circulated concerning “end-time”, as people look to the Bible without consulting the Author first.
When I once looked at a photograph album containing a photo of my dad in uniform, I thought he had been in the army, until he explained to me that he dressed up for a fancy dress party! The accuracy of interpretation relies heavily on a personal, dynamic relationship with Holy Spirit. There is too much intellectual collectivism about, which is a fancy way of saying that people quote one another, and it sounds so convincing, but they’ve all sourced the same person who started the ball rolling. That is not just about end-times, it is also about crucial matters in life.
More crucially, we should experientially know the fullness of the depth and breadth and length of the Father’s love. And a primary aim of our lives, even when it seems difficult, should rather be to get “cleaned-up” from the messes in our life experiences. This purification process is more commonly known as progressive sanctification or inner healing. And it requires of us to have a yielded heart that remains teachable at all times. It relies on one’s willingness to undergo the intended transformation and restoration as Holy Spirit desires. When we fully yield ourselves to Holy Spirit, we will avoid ever grieving Him or quenching His power in our lives. Then we will be able to stay in step and on track with God’s intended path and destiny for our lives continuously.
There is a great difference between hyper-grace and extreme grace. Hyper-grace originally stems from Romans 5:20, as AMPC put it, “But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s unmerited favour) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded.” The word here in Greek describing grace is huper-perisseuó (Strong’s Definition : to abound more exceedingly), hyper-abundant or “hyperhyper” grace! and is therefore Scriptural. Receiving the fullness of such grace keeps us from self-righteous legalism. Whereas extreme grace negates one’s ultimate accountability to God, self and man, and it is but another form of antinomianism, or more simply put, anything goes, “I’m forgiven, and I’ll always be forgiven no matter what”. But that is deep deception - we will all appear before the Lord and give an account of our lives even though we are saved by grace.
That’s why humility brings us to a place where we seek inward change, to remain teachable, open to change because our love for Jesus constrains us to love and honour Him in all things. Not just going into “automatic pilot” living, praying, worshipping, preaching, soaking and fellowshipping for the sake of it, but seeking His impending will moment for moment. “Lord what is Your take on this?”
Let us not forget that the Israelites wanted to worship God when they insisted that Aaron had to create the golden calf for them. Their desire to worship became the object of their worship. They thought they were pleasing God when they were worshipping - what the golden calf represented, i.e. the glory of the flesh. They should have waited upon God, His Person and His instruction, but by following the emotional need to worship rather than the One who is to be worshipped, they incurred God’s displeasure. Let us not fall into the same trap, believing that we are on track when in fact we have left His intended plan for our lives. One of the key issues in spiritual growth is to learn how to bring one’s emotions in total subjection to one’s spirit in Holy Spirit. When David wrote, “Commit your way unto the Lord and He will bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5), He did not say dump your day on the Lord and continue as “normal”. No, the Author calls for collaboration. A commitment of one’s life will call for the need to be in constant communication, it is the path of love and wisdom. It calls for prophetic living, discerning God’s mind because you are in love with Him and His mind has become your mind.
Here my call is for all of us to take heed of what Solomon had written, once we’ve positioned ourselves in loving obedience before the Lord, “As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-3). Let us remember that our obedience, as sons and daughters, comes out of our love and exuberant joy in Him, not of obligation, which is just a subtle form of legalism. Any form of spiritual legalism will produce one of the two sons as in the parable of the Prodigal Father. Humility born out of love and a teachable heart will be manifested in our obedience to His gracious will and desire for our lives.
And that will bring great fruit not only to our own lives but in the lives of all those who enter our realms of influence. The King and the kingdom will benefit in the small and in the great. For a humble, teachable, submitted heart the only thing that matters is to fulfil the Father’s will all the times. To adequately respond to His amazing, unending love for us.
One last word, humility requires us to love ourselves as He loves us, for that’s where it starts. The way you see and honour yourself will determine how you extend grace and love to others in the Father’s name.
Blessings to you all and I love every one of you! LOVE – keep the most important thing being the most important thing, always!
Blessings
Ben
A fool is in love with his own opinion, but wisdom means being teachable. Proverbs 12:15
Senseless people learn their lessons the hard way, but the wise are teachable. Proverbs 21:11
Listen to the truth I speak: Whoever does not open their arms to receive God’s kingdom like a teachable child will never enter it. Mark 10:15
But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form. James 3:17
A general principle that has stood me in good stead is, “I am wrong until proven right”! The definition of humility, to which we are all called to, means “to assign a lower rank or place to yourself” and in spiritual terms, that means dying to selfish ambition and submitting to God’s will and plan for your life. In this season where we have experienced great changes in terms of COVID and a lot of uncertainty that came alongside it, we need to remain humble and teachable. So much nonsense was and is being circulated concerning “end-time”, as people look to the Bible without consulting the Author first.
When I once looked at a photograph album containing a photo of my dad in uniform, I thought he had been in the army, until he explained to me that he dressed up for a fancy dress party! The accuracy of interpretation relies heavily on a personal, dynamic relationship with Holy Spirit. There is too much intellectual collectivism about, which is a fancy way of saying that people quote one another, and it sounds so convincing, but they’ve all sourced the same person who started the ball rolling. That is not just about end-times, it is also about crucial matters in life.
More crucially, we should experientially know the fullness of the depth and breadth and length of the Father’s love. And a primary aim of our lives, even when it seems difficult, should rather be to get “cleaned-up” from the messes in our life experiences. This purification process is more commonly known as progressive sanctification or inner healing. And it requires of us to have a yielded heart that remains teachable at all times. It relies on one’s willingness to undergo the intended transformation and restoration as Holy Spirit desires. When we fully yield ourselves to Holy Spirit, we will avoid ever grieving Him or quenching His power in our lives. Then we will be able to stay in step and on track with God’s intended path and destiny for our lives continuously.
There is a great difference between hyper-grace and extreme grace. Hyper-grace originally stems from Romans 5:20, as AMPC put it, “But where sin increased and abounded, grace (God’s unmerited favour) has surpassed it and increased the more and superabounded.” The word here in Greek describing grace is huper-perisseuó (Strong’s Definition : to abound more exceedingly), hyper-abundant or “hyperhyper” grace! and is therefore Scriptural. Receiving the fullness of such grace keeps us from self-righteous legalism. Whereas extreme grace negates one’s ultimate accountability to God, self and man, and it is but another form of antinomianism, or more simply put, anything goes, “I’m forgiven, and I’ll always be forgiven no matter what”. But that is deep deception - we will all appear before the Lord and give an account of our lives even though we are saved by grace.
That’s why humility brings us to a place where we seek inward change, to remain teachable, open to change because our love for Jesus constrains us to love and honour Him in all things. Not just going into “automatic pilot” living, praying, worshipping, preaching, soaking and fellowshipping for the sake of it, but seeking His impending will moment for moment. “Lord what is Your take on this?”
Let us not forget that the Israelites wanted to worship God when they insisted that Aaron had to create the golden calf for them. Their desire to worship became the object of their worship. They thought they were pleasing God when they were worshipping - what the golden calf represented, i.e. the glory of the flesh. They should have waited upon God, His Person and His instruction, but by following the emotional need to worship rather than the One who is to be worshipped, they incurred God’s displeasure. Let us not fall into the same trap, believing that we are on track when in fact we have left His intended plan for our lives. One of the key issues in spiritual growth is to learn how to bring one’s emotions in total subjection to one’s spirit in Holy Spirit. When David wrote, “Commit your way unto the Lord and He will bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5), He did not say dump your day on the Lord and continue as “normal”. No, the Author calls for collaboration. A commitment of one’s life will call for the need to be in constant communication, it is the path of love and wisdom. It calls for prophetic living, discerning God’s mind because you are in love with Him and His mind has become your mind.
Here my call is for all of us to take heed of what Solomon had written, once we’ve positioned ourselves in loving obedience before the Lord, “As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. It is evil to make mindless offerings to God. Don’t make rash promises, and don’t be hasty in bringing matters before God. After all, God is in heaven, and you are here on earth. So let your words be few. Too much activity gives you restless dreams; too many words make you a fool.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-3). Let us remember that our obedience, as sons and daughters, comes out of our love and exuberant joy in Him, not of obligation, which is just a subtle form of legalism. Any form of spiritual legalism will produce one of the two sons as in the parable of the Prodigal Father. Humility born out of love and a teachable heart will be manifested in our obedience to His gracious will and desire for our lives.
And that will bring great fruit not only to our own lives but in the lives of all those who enter our realms of influence. The King and the kingdom will benefit in the small and in the great. For a humble, teachable, submitted heart the only thing that matters is to fulfil the Father’s will all the times. To adequately respond to His amazing, unending love for us.
One last word, humility requires us to love ourselves as He loves us, for that’s where it starts. The way you see and honour yourself will determine how you extend grace and love to others in the Father’s name.
Blessings to you all and I love every one of you! LOVE – keep the most important thing being the most important thing, always!
Blessings
Ben