A Teachable Spirit - the 1st Key for Spiritual Growth

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6


So you want to grow spiritually. Me, too. And that's the first step right there: to desire to grow in your faith and obedience to the Lord, to desire to be more like Him. That desire is key to our ongoing maturity in Christ.

However, if you genuinely want to grow in Christ-likeness you'll have to accept that there will be some changes required. I often pray for God to change me, but when I begin to feel Him challenging my thinking, my attitudes, my words, and my behavior, I usually squirm.

After all, Jesus calls us to a higher standard than we usually like to live at. He calls us to:
These are difficult challenges for me. But if I want to grow in Christ-likeness I will submit to the changes He requires of me. I will yield, say "yes, Lord," obey and trust.

That's why the first key to consistent and consequential spiritual growth is simply that we

cultivate a teachable spirit.

Thankfully, God gives us a new heart when we turn our lives over to Jesus (see Ezekiel 11:19-20). He takes away our stony, stubborn hearts, and gives us hearts of flesh, malleable and soft. He also writes His laws on those new hearts, inscribing on our consciences a desire to follow His ways. Finally, He generously gives us His Holy Spirit to direct our paths and lean into us, so to speak.

But you and I know we can easily harden those new hearts toward Him, digging in our heels, resisting His pulls and tugs, saying, "no, no, no" instead of  "yes."

So today I simply encourage you to ask yourself, "Do I have a teachable heart, a teachable spirit?" 

What does a teachable spirit look like? Here are a few self-evaluation questions to ask yourself:
Here is a scripture that has spoken to me concerning being teachable.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you.
Psalm 32:8-9


Have no doubt about it, God is persistent in teaching us His ways. He is a faithful Father who disciplines and teaches those He loves. But we can learn from Him willingly, and thus more quickly, or we can be stubborn, stiff-necked and "mulish." Then He brings out the bit and bridle. I suggest we develop a teachable, moldable spirit.

Ask God today to create in you a teachable spirit. Ask Him to show you if there is any stubborness in you that is keeping you from growing in Christ-likeness. And bow before Him, submitting to His tender guidance and instruction.


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