There is a saying in life; “You don’t win or lose; you win or learn.” This is an important lesson to learn as our time here on Earth goes on. There isn’t really “losing” in life. The mistakes we make, and trust me, there will be plenty, are just supposed to teach us. We learn what to do or not to do in that life lesson.
For many, life is all about learning lessons. Stepping out of your comfort zone and taking risks. I’ve been learning a lot about business lately and this is the goal every day. To learn something new and apply it to our lives so that we can help others in need.
I don’t think anyone would disagree that having knowledge is a bad thing. The importance of learning seems to have taken a back seat today though, to trying for your ‘15 minutes of fame’. Everyone wants to earn a quick buck but they don’t want to take the time to get the education required to get that money. Maybe I’m just old school.
If we didn’t learn, we wouldn’t know how to do anything. That seems redundant to say, but it’s true. Whether we want to cook a new recipe or replace our car battery, we need to learn how to do these things. No one can learn for us. If we want to grow and succeed in this life, it’s imperative to educate yourself. There needs to be motivation to obtain the knowledge and experience to better yourself and help others succeed with you.
This is true when it comes to spiritual growth too. New converts to Christianity are called “babes” in Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1). This is because their knowledge is scarce. They don’t know much aside from God’s sacrifice of His Son in order to receive the forgiveness of sins. The writer of Hebrews also addresses this to his audience. Verses 13 and 14 of chapter 5 say, “For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Much like we would say about babies in a physical sense, at first, we need the fundamental of life. We need to start off small because our immature minds can only handle that much. As we mature though, we should be taking on deeper things or “meat” as the Bible uses, much like a baby needs in its next phase to keep growing. This is the goal in life. As we go through each phase of life, we need to be turning that page. We need to be growing as a person each day.
Jesus mentions this in Matthew 5. Jesus talks a lot about how our attitude should be towards God and others, then in the very last verse of the chapter, He concludes, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (v 48). A lot of people think this word ‘perfect’ means sinless, but that is impossible as we still live in a mortal world, ever since God cursed it. Digging a little deeper, we actually see that that’s not what the Greek word means at all. The word teleios means to be complete or mature. This fits more with what we’re talking about.
There’s a reason we cringe when we see people acting immature. Especially when they should be of age and know better. Same when it comes to our spiritual lives. We need to be growing in the grace and knowledge of God and His word (2 Peter 3:18). Each day that goes by, we ought to be learning more and more. One reason is for knowing who false teachers are (cf. 1 John 4:1). How can we know if someone is teaching falsely if we don’t know the word of God ourselves?
If we want to know about how to do a certain task in life, we gain knowledge of it. If we want to learn about God, we need to study His word. This also helps with learning how to produce the fruit of the Spirit talked about in Galatians 5:22-23. This is what is meant by growing in the Lord and of course, as a person in general. This is what it means to be mature. To be able to walk in the Spirit and produce godly fruits. And ultimately, grow the kingdom of God and bring others to Christ.
An old Chinese proverb says, “Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” When we seek after and study the Almighty God, He will always be by our side.
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