Conquering Stupidity with Teachability….More on Productive Effort

Proverbs 1:22,32-33; (NIVV) “How long will you simple ones love your simple ways?…For the waywardness of the simple will kill them and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Another key aspect of putting forth productive effort is the willingness to learn. Learning and being teachable requires the ability to accept the fact you don’t have the answers and the willingness to seek out those who do.

For years I thought I had all the answers and those answers got me a 5 week “vacation” in a chemical dependency center, a “heart to heart” with an agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the loss of most everything I had by the time I was 28 years old.

In the last couple of years of my addiction I found myself unteachable because I found my answers in my drugs…can you say “wayward, simple and complacent?” (See Proverb above)

In chapter one of Proverbs, Solomon is being kind by using the word “simple” instead of stupid. What he is really saying is stupid people do stupid things and in turn reap the consequences of “stupid.”

In my years of working with addicts and alcoholics as well as people trying to improve themselves, I have found those who are willing to be taught are less likely to be “stupid” and in turn achieve one goal after another. Those who don’t like to be told, taught or corrected are more likey to be “stupid” and remain stuck in a vicious cycle their “answers” have created.

When I decided to try and get my life back on track in the fall of 1987, I made a decision to spend at least a year seeking out the answers instead of providing them. I chose to take the cotton out of my ears and I placed it in my mouth. I sought out wise counsel through addiction counselors and sponsors who had been where I was. I began attending 12 Step self-help meetings, I began reading self-help books…I began to become teachable and in turn slowly found my actions to be purposeful and productive instead of stupid and foolish… Proverbs 12:15; “The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

Putting forth productive effort requires a keen knowledge of what you are trying to produce. This only happens by being willing to be taught and admitting you do not have all the answers. It also requires the humility to seek help from someone “above” your knowledge zone whether you can meet with them in person or through their writings. (I assume business and life gurus like John Maxwell, Jim Collins and Stephen Covey would probably not take my call for help and is why I read their books.)

If you want to put forth productive effort as a husband, seek advice and learn from a great husband, if you want to put forth productive effort as a mother, seek advice from a great mother. If you want to be the best at your job, seek help from a co-worker who is considered the best. If you want to lead in an ethical way, seek counsel from those who lead ethically. If you want to get your body in shape seek advice from someone who is in shape.

All of the advice above is sound advice and will help you, but I have found the most effective way to put forth productive effort in ALL aspects of my life is to seek help from and remain teachable to the One person who walked among us and did not error, to remain teachable to the One who overcame the biggest setback any of us face as human beings (death) and to remain teachable to the One who has all the answers; “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (Jesus is speaking in John 14:6 NIV).

Years ago, when I made up my mind to seek the answers that would prevent me from being simple and stupid, I was lead to the One who held the answers for everything, and that One is Jesus.

It is a daily walk and only happens if I seek His help first thing in the morning through prayer and Bible reading and stay in touch with Him during the day. What many of us do not realize is Jesus wants us to be great at everything we do and will therefore provide us with the guidance, strength, and wisdom (often times through other people) in order to succeed if and only if we remain teachable by seeking His help and guidance continuously.

In Luke 11:9-10 Jesus tells us;“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (NIV)…in other words–don’t ask, don’t seek, don’t knock and in turn be stupid and reap the rewards of stupidity.

P.E.A.C.E.

Jay@EagleLaunch.com

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