The Virtue of Being Teachable

I believe that a great obstacle that stands in the way of our growth and development and our futher acquisition of knowledge is our tendency to believe we have arrived when we have barely begun our quest. I think it behooves us to delve deeper into everything that we think we know because there are often hidden treasures to discover.

One example that comes to mind is the topic of faith. Up until about 5 years ago, I did not really think a lot about faith. I had previously read Lectures on Faith given at the School of the Prophets. From that I learned that faith was a principle of action and that faith in God comes from first being taught that there is a God, having a correct understanding of His attributes and perfections, and a knowledge that the life one is persuing is in accordance with His will. I also learned that everything we do requires faith in that we have an expectation of an outcome, but not a sure knowledge.

What this blog is about is pushing against the condition I found myself in next. I was content and rested in my understanding of faith. When opportunities arose to revisit faith, I felt that I "had been there, done that". That close-mindedness kept me from learning more. Eventually, I took the time to ponder about faith again, and I recognized that another aspect of faith is looking for the positive and how it is closely related to gratitude and the two types of hope. Maybe, I'll post more on faith later.

My point is we need to guard against our own close-mindedness in which we choose not to learn more.

Comments

Hüffenhardt said…
I should add that I know I will not be able to consistently keep to the ideal. I will be close-minded from time to time. It is in the attempt to remain teachable that I believe the progress will be made.
Tue Feb 21, 10:42:00 AM PST
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