Are you teachable?

"But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you,"                                                     I John 2:27.  NKJV

Be careful here. This verse is not saying that you do not need any further teaching, because you do, we all do. If you read an earlier verse in 1 John 2, we hear:

'But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.'    1 John 2:20

As a Spirit-filled Christian, we have the Holy Spirit and He gives us revelation in all things and will guide us through situations. We still need to receive teaching in the Word from when we attend church; join a home group; watch Christian TV or study a Christian teaching manual. In fact, it is essential. However, what the teaching can't give us, is what the Holy Spirit can, and that is revelation; a deep insight into a God-given plan or situation. In fact, God-breathed.

Good bible teaching gives us wisdom and understanding and is an essential part of our daily requirements. Proverbs 9:9 says, 'Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.' We need to be teachable, in fact, we need to have a hunger and a thirst for good, solid bible teaching.

The Holy Spirit will give us revelation in things. Suddenly  our eyes are opened and the answer is there staring us in the face. Now this can come directly from the Holy Spirit during your personal quiet time or a session of prayer, or you may receive anointed teaching from someone. You know when you're in the presence of an anointed teacher; they keep you hooked and on the edge of your seat. You just can't get enough and all that they say, you saturate yourself in it because it is reaching the place within you - your spirit. That is the hallmark of a gifted teacher. Other people may teach, but it doesn't have the same impact and you may feel yourself drifting off into your own thoughts. There's nothing suspect about the teacher, it is just not their gifting. It's rather like a song writer. Some writers create their work and it just hits you and pretty soon it may be in the charts. Other writers create something and it just doesn't seem to have the get up and buy to it.

We need to be teachable. No one is above this, even if at times, we may feel that we are. In William Barclay's Commentary to Matthew, he quotes a statement by a great Roman teacher called Quintilian, who was a teacher of oratory. He said of certain scholars:

'They would no doubt be excellent students if they were not already convinced of their own knowledge. No one can teach people who know it all, already.'

We don't know it all, and if you think that you do, then you are so misguided. In fact, it is pride that makes a person feel this way. If a person becomes too puffed up, pretty soon they're going to pop, and that will be disastrous.

We are know all's, God's Word here tells us we are. But we only know what the Holy Spirit shows and tells us. As we walk daily with Him, He will open our minds to what He wishes to teach us. This may not happen all of the time, so we need to supplement this with good, solid teaching from a gifted teacher. There are Lot's around and we all have our preferences. Find one who works for you and get right into God's Word until you are bubbling over with wisdom, knowledge and the anointing of God.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com