Another lesson that we can take from Proverbs 4:20, My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings, is to be teachable. In asking one to “give attention to my words” and “incline your ear to my sayings,” the writer of Proverbs is asking that the student maintain a teachable heart.
The heart is mentioned throughout scripture. Most often it is a weak organ which must be guarded and supervised to avoid problems. For example, we are told in Proverbs 4:23, “keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
In Matthew 15:18, Jesus taught, “those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”
In Luke 6:45, Jesus says, “a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
So how does one develop or maintain a teachable heart?
- Avoid self-righteousness, the need to be important or right in your own eyes.
- Avoid self-reliance. Learn that faith requires reliance on God rather than self, and that self-reliance and keep us from yielding fully to God.
- Avoid arrogance. If you feel you are the smartest person in the room, you are not teachable.
- Avoid laziness. Being unwilling to engage in what God is asking of us because of a lack of diligence make us unteachable as well.
- Avoid compromise. Allowing compromise into our lives will give us a divided heart and make us unteachable.
The teachable heart desires more of God and less of self. Be teachable.
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