Scripture
“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.”
Proverbs 1:5
“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.”
Proverbs 18:15
“Don’t bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more.”
Proverbs 9:8-9
“Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long.”
Psalm 25:4-5
Quotes/Color
“It’s always important to see yourself as someone who wants to learn and not someone who knows everything. When you are green you grow, when you are ripe you rot.”
Dirk Nowitzki, HOF Speech 2023
“If you think education is expensive… Try ignorance.”
Ben Franklin
“A Deaf ear is evidence of a closed mind.”
John Maxwell
“You have to learn a lot to keep up with everything you forget.”
Andrew Klavan
“Be a learn it all, not a know it all.”
Anonymous
Context
As a little guy, I was never all that much of a prolific reader. I never finished the Harry Potter books. Never even read the Lord of the Rings books until this past year (2023), despite constantly being profiled as a Lord of the Rings guy. (Bad fashion + Somewhat Homeschool Social Skills at Times + Being 5 years old and 75 years old at the same time = Being profiled as a Lord of the Rings guy even though I had never read them, I guess…)
I mainly read sports biographies. Short chapter books on Barry Sanders, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Terrell Davis… This is how I got all of my reading credits in elementary school. The AR tests were essentially just facts about sports… Which was perfect, because I bought the Sports Illustrated Sports Encyclopedia every year at the Scholastic book fair. (Updated edition… every year…). I would pour over those sports encyclopedias and memorize all of the stats. Most home runs all time, most hits, most points, most passing yards, all of it…
And while I have somehow retained all of that sports information in my brain as if it were an air tight sealed vault… I’ve loved this quote by an author I admire as an adult…
“You have to learn a lot to keep up with everything you forget.”
Isn’t that good?
I love it, because it is so true for me (in everything besides sports statistics).
My retention of the things God teaches me and reveals to me fades away so quickly… If I don’t constantly learn new things from Him, seek out a new lesson on an old story, ask God to reveal new things to me and others constantly, eventually it feels like I know nothing at all.
I’ve forgotten a whole lot and learned nothing. The things forgotten (many) have caught up with the things I’ve learned (nothing).
Application
Learning new things each and every day is so important. And not just who has the most World Series titles of all time…
- Your Specialty – Learning things about God’s creation and your own profession – this propels you, makes you useful, and allows God to use you in a greater capacity.
- Your God – Learning about who God is. Do you truly know the person of Christ? God the Father? Do you know the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life? Learning about God fills your mind with heavenly things and strengthens you spiritually.
- Your Story – Learning about what God is doing in your story. Reflect on what He has taught you and what he is teaching you – this allows you to live as a testament of God’s goodness.
- God’s Creation – Learning about God’s favorite creation, his people. Investing in others deeply, becoming a student of your friends and family – their interests, their strengths, their areas they want to grow in. Learning about others makes way for warmth in community that only familiarity can bring.
Ignorance is More Costly than Learning
Always being a learner can be costly. Financially, sure, but that is not really what I am talking about. Really I am talking about the toll that it takes on you. Constantly learning is taxing. It requires constant curiosity, constant focus, constant energy.
It is easier to coast… But it is also more costly.
“If you think education is expensive… Try ignorance.”
Ben Franklin
Be Teachable
Potentially the only thing more damaging that not learning because you are lazy is not learning because you already think you know it all. The wise listen and gather guidance eagerly (Proverbs 1:5). They know that they do not know it all.
“Be a learn it all, not a know it all.”
Anonymous
Something to Chew On:
- Think of all that you have learned in the last month… Now think of all that you have forgotten… Which one outweighs which?
- Do you track what you learn? Are you eager to learn something new each day? Or are you just trying to get through?
- What have you learned about God or His Word in the last week? Are the lessons you’ve learned about Him recycled from long ago? Or are you hungering for new learnings from Him regularly?
GreatValue Proverb:
Be a Learn-It-All, Not a Know-It-All