Success means being teachable, but what gets in the way of teachability?
According to Pastor Matt Keller of Next Level Church, pain can be a common barrier.
“If you’re in your kitchen preparing a meal, and you slam your finger in a drawer, what’s the natural human response? You pull your hand out as fast as you can. And we pull it close to our body. Why is that? Because when pain hits our life – physical pain being the illustration here – our natural inclination as human beings is to pull away.”
When we’ve suffered deeply, we can use that as an excuse to stay where we are and not progress emotionally, physically, or spiritually. Matt says that can be a dangerous practice.
“We can’t learn what we need to learn from someone else if we are pulling ourself away from them.”
Imagine our unresolved pain is a brick. When we first harden it and set it down, it’s a minor inconvenience to step over the brick and move forward.
With each slight that goes unaddressed, the bricks turn into a massive wall that prevents us from getting heard, helped, and healed. We’re so focused on our pain that we don’t have the energy to consider getting help from someone outside the wall.
We can and need to think differently. Susie offers a suggestion – instead of walling yourself off, say:
“I’m going to take this thing that just tried to destroy me, and I’m going to press into God and turn the table on the enemy and make him so sorry he ever messed with me.”
Use your pain in a way that softens your heart and gives other voices an opening to minister to you. Matt points out that the Holy Spirit is the voice we need to be able to hear because He is the one who teaches us.
“As believers we know the Holy Spirit wants to help us. He is our paraklete, the one who comes alongside, our Helper who helps us become more like Christ. That’s the essence of teachability.”
Matt’s book is The Key to Everything.
Key Scriptures: Galatians 6:9; Galatians 1:15-20
Featured Songs: The Maker by Chris August; Glow in the Dark by Jason Gray; Day One by Matthew West
