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Flexible, Strong-willed, and Teachable
Flexible, Strong-willed, and Teachable
In order to get better at walking in the Spirit, there are a few things we should work on being: flexible, strong-willed, and teachable. The more these things are true of us, the easier it will be for us to act when the Holy Spirit speaks.
Show Notes:
If we're going to be the kind of people that God can use, we have to be willing to go outside our comfort zones and normal routines. We'll have to be okay with being late for a good reason or not getting the house clean because God sent us on a Kingdom errand. I've learned that this is also why we ought to listen when the nudge from the Holy Spirit is "do your dishes now." We may think we're going to have time later, but God knows we actually have a friend who's going to call in crisis later.
For some of us, being flexible is easy. We like having possibilities, leaving options open, and always being ready for the next big adventure. For others of us, rigidity is a comfort and protection against the unknown. Opening up the option to do something outside the plan is synonymous with chaos and will lead to lots of anxiety. If that's the case, step one for you might be dealing with that fear. It probably funnels down to loss of control and is countered by a trust in God's love and sovereignty.
Regardless of whether you are naturally flexible or not, we all have a bent toward being inflexible toward God. This is because our pride gets in the way of following God. We have plans, desires, and goals in life, and we think they are vitally important to our happiness. Surrendering control of our lives, moment-by-moment, to God means those plans may never come true, and our happiness may never reach the peak we think it will if we get our own way. Of course, all of this is steeped in lies. Proverbs 13:19 says, "Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste, but to turn from evil is an abomination to fools." This is a contrast of two types of people, which means we can draw conclusions about both groups based off what is said about one. Since it says the second group is populated by fools, we can assume the first group is populated by those who follow the way of wisdom. Since the first group gets their desires fulfilled, we can reason that the second group doesn't. Using this logic, the first group of people are wise, righteous, and happy and have their desires fulfilled. The second group are fools, evil, and unhappy, and they don't get what they desire. What is this verse trying to communicate? God has given each one of us deep desires that are incredibly sweet when fulfilled. They are intrinsically connected with acting righteously and wisely. Those who try to fulfill their desires with evil will never be satisfied, though they think their way is the only way to do it. They can't even comprehend going about trying to be happy another way.
What does this mean for us? Whatever the things we think will make us happy are, if they're not what God is calling us to, we're wrong. We have to remember that however wise or knowledgeable we think we are, we don't know everything. We don't know ourselves better than God. The only thing that satisfies us is living according to what God wants from us, every second of every day. That dream we think will make us happy may be the typical American dream—big house, nice lawn, well-behaved kids, a good job, etc. It might also be living in a foreign country doing mission work. In and of itself, even dreams that are God-given will not make us happy. We have a tendency to disconnect God from what He wants us to do. It's like turning God into a GPS-enabled device that is giving us directions for life. When we don't know where we are or where we're going, we listen to Him, but as soon as we're back in familiar territory, we turn Him off. Even when we are listening, we're not really engaged. He's there in the background, but it's the driving that's really important, not our relationship with Him. God asks us to do things out of a relationship with Him, not just because they are good things in and of themselves.
It's like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing." That love starts with God. If we do all those things without a desire for and love for God, they're pointless. Once we have that love for God, all those things will flow out of that in love for other people.
So how can we make ourselves more flexible toward God? First off, we have to be willing. This means fighting back pride and fear with the truth of who God is and who we are. Then we have to start saying "yes," not just to God but to people. God uses people for His purposes, so it is reasonable to think that one of the ways God directs us is through other people. When someone asks you to do something, instead of trying to invent a reason to say "no," see if it's possible for you to say "yes."
I'm not suggesting that we become overinvolved with other people's needs and forget how to say "no." God has made us with physical and emotional limits, and we can serve Him best when we are aware of those and don't push passed them. On the other hand, when we operate via the power of the Holy Spirit, we are usually capable of far more than we think we are or we would be without His strength. Don't break the limits but do test them. See how far God can take you.
The second thing we should work toward being when we are learning to walk in the Spirit is strong-willed. It may seem at first that being flexible and being strong-willed are diametrically opposed ideas. They're not. Think of it this way. Someone who is flexible but not strong-willed will flex in any direction for any reason. Someone who is strong-willed but not flexible will never flex for any reason. We want to be both. We want to flex when God wants us to and stay strong when He wants. When you're doing homework, you want to be strong-willed enough not to take too many snack breaks or get lost on Youtube or Facebook. Let's be honest, we've all been there, and it's easy to do. Especially in our digital age, there are always things to distract us. We need to develop our will so that we can say "no" to the things of the flesh and be flexible enough to say "yes" to God.
How do we increase the strength of our will? Start saying "no" to things you want. Do a fast. Delete your Snapchat or Instagram for a predetermined period of time. When you sit down to work on a project, commit to not doing unnecessary things on the internet. If you have a weak will, these things will be very difficult. Find someone to support you who can check up on you. I have a writing buddy. I tell her how much I want to get written each week, and she checks up on me every Monday to make sure I got it done. I had to put that in place because my will was too weak. I need the help to stay on track and remember what's important. You probably do, too, and that's okay! Don't be ashamed or scared to ask for help.
If you need more ideas for how to increase your will, sit down and think about your biggest time and money wasters. Do you go through the drive-through every time you see your favorite fast-food restaurant? Do you need your morning coffee to be fancy? Do you play internet video games? Do you search for news on your favorite celebrities? Do you read romance novels? Identify your two or three biggest time and money wasters and try cutting them out one at a time for a week. This will have a two-fold benefit: you'll be in a better financial/time management situation and you'll be increasing your will at the same time.
The third thing we should work on being is teachable. This includes both wanting to learn new things and being willing to hear critique and correction. Usually the second one is far harder to handle. The book of Proverbs speaks frequently to both issues. "He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing" (Prov. 29:1). "Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge" (Prov. 19:27). "Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future" (Prov. 19:20). "A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke" (Prov. 13:1).
Those who are willing to learn—and more importantly, those who are willing to admit when they are wrong and learn from it—are consistently categorized as wise. Over and over again in Proverbs, wisdom is equated with righteousness, and those who seek after both are promised blessings now and for eternity, the most important of which is to know God. Fortunately for us, if we are willing to admit that we have a wisdom deficiency, God is ready and willing to give it to us (James 1:5). This is because humility precedes asking for wisdom, and true wisdom builds more humility. When we receive the wisdom of God, we can readily recognize that it is not ours, so we don't become prideful. On the other hand, human wisdom puffs up.
If we're going to effectively walk in the Spirit, we need to be willing to be corrected and receive the wisdom of God, both from God and from other people, even those we may not respect or like. When someone comes to us with a complaint, it's easy to feel threatened and attacked. This is because we are finding our identity in something that is shifting, usually our performance. On the other hand, if we are finding our identity in Christ, we can listen when people try to correct us and make the necessary changes. Even when someone is being overly harsh and not approaching us peacefully, we can recognize our part in their pain and hear them out. Our desire to change comes from a God-given love for them and desire to see the relationship restored.
The idea of walking in the Spirit is simple. On the other hand, you will spend the rest of your life trying to do it better. The Holy Spirit is God, which means He has an unfathomable mind and an infinite number of things to teach you. He longs for a relationship with you that will satisfy your deepest desires, use you in ways you can't even imagine, and create in you a passionate love for God. Will you start listening and obeying? Trust, do, trust, repeat.
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By Hannah Rebekah
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Flexible, Strong-willed, and Teachable
In order to get better at walking in the Spirit, there are a few things we should work on being: flexible, strong-willed, and teachable. The more these things are true of us, the easier it will be for us to act when the Holy Spirit speaks.
Show Notes:
If we're going to be the kind of people that God can use, we have to be willing to go outside our comfort zones and normal routines. We'll have to be okay with being late for a good reason or not getting the house clean because God sent us on a Kingdom errand. I've learned that this is also why we ought to listen when the nudge from the Holy Spirit is "do your dishes now." We may think we're going to have time later, but God knows we actually have a friend who's going to call in crisis later.
For some of us, being flexible is easy. We like having possibilities, leaving options open, and always being ready for the next big adventure. For others of us, rigidity is a comfort and protection against the unknown. Opening up the option to do something outside the plan is synonymous with chaos and will lead to lots of anxiety. If that's the case, step one for you might be dealing with that fear. It probably funnels down to loss of control and is countered by a trust in God's love and sovereignty.
Regardless of whether you are naturally flexible or not, we all have a bent toward being inflexible toward God. This is because our pride gets in the way of following God. We have plans, desires, and goals in life, and we think they are vitally important to our happiness. Surrendering control of our lives, moment-by-moment, to God means those plans may never come true, and our happiness may never reach the peak we think it will if we get our own way. Of course, all of this is steeped in lies. Proverbs 13:19 says, "Desire fulfilled is sweet to the taste, but to turn from evil is an abomination to fools." This is a contrast of two types of people, which means we can draw conclusions about both groups based off what is said about one. Since it says the second group is populated by fools, we can assume the first group is populated by those who follow the way of wisdom. Since the first group gets their desires fulfilled, we can reason that the second group doesn't. Using this logic, the first group of people are wise, righteous, and happy and have their desires fulfilled. The second group are fools, evil, and unhappy, and they don't get what they desire. What is this verse trying to communicate? God has given each one of us deep desires that are incredibly sweet when fulfilled. They are intrinsically connected with acting righteously and wisely. Those who try to fulfill their desires with evil will never be satisfied, though they think their way is the only way to do it. They can't even comprehend going about trying to be happy another way.
What does this mean for us? Whatever the things we think will make us happy are, if they're not what God is calling us to, we're wrong. We have to remember that however wise or knowledgeable we think we are, we don't know everything. We don't know ourselves better than God. The only thing that satisfies us is living according to what God wants from us, every second of every day. That dream we think will make us happy may be the typical American dream—big house, nice lawn, well-behaved kids, a good job, etc. It might also be living in a foreign country doing mission work. In and of itself, even dreams that are God-given will not make us happy. We have a tendency to disconnect God from what He wants us to do. It's like turning God into a GPS-enabled device that is giving us directions for life. When we don't know where we are or where we're going, we listen to Him, but as soon as we're back in familiar territory, we turn Him off. Even when we are listening, we're not really engaged. He's there in the background, but it's the driving that's really important, not our relationship with Him. God asks us to do things out of a relationship with Him, not just because they are good things in and of themselves.
It's like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak human or angelic languages but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so that I can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body in order to boast but do not have love, I gain nothing." That love starts with God. If we do all those things without a desire for and love for God, they're pointless. Once we have that love for God, all those things will flow out of that in love for other people.
So how can we make ourselves more flexible toward God? First off, we have to be willing. This means fighting back pride and fear with the truth of who God is and who we are. Then we have to start saying "yes," not just to God but to people. God uses people for His purposes, so it is reasonable to think that one of the ways God directs us is through other people. When someone asks you to do something, instead of trying to invent a reason to say "no," see if it's possible for you to say "yes."
I'm not suggesting that we become overinvolved with other people's needs and forget how to say "no." God has made us with physical and emotional limits, and we can serve Him best when we are aware of those and don't push passed them. On the other hand, when we operate via the power of the Holy Spirit, we are usually capable of far more than we think we are or we would be without His strength. Don't break the limits but do test them. See how far God can take you.
The second thing we should work toward being when we are learning to walk in the Spirit is strong-willed. It may seem at first that being flexible and being strong-willed are diametrically opposed ideas. They're not. Think of it this way. Someone who is flexible but not strong-willed will flex in any direction for any reason. Someone who is strong-willed but not flexible will never flex for any reason. We want to be both. We want to flex when God wants us to and stay strong when He wants. When you're doing homework, you want to be strong-willed enough not to take too many snack breaks or get lost on Youtube or Facebook. Let's be honest, we've all been there, and it's easy to do. Especially in our digital age, there are always things to distract us. We need to develop our will so that we can say "no" to the things of the flesh and be flexible enough to say "yes" to God.
How do we increase the strength of our will? Start saying "no" to things you want. Do a fast. Delete your Snapchat or Instagram for a predetermined period of time. When you sit down to work on a project, commit to not doing unnecessary things on the internet. If you have a weak will, these things will be very difficult. Find someone to support you who can check up on you. I have a writing buddy. I tell her how much I want to get written each week, and she checks up on me every Monday to make sure I got it done. I had to put that in place because my will was too weak. I need the help to stay on track and remember what's important. You probably do, too, and that's okay! Don't be ashamed or scared to ask for help.
If you need more ideas for how to increase your will, sit down and think about your biggest time and money wasters. Do you go through the drive-through every time you see your favorite fast-food restaurant? Do you need your morning coffee to be fancy? Do you play internet video games? Do you search for news on your favorite celebrities? Do you read romance novels? Identify your two or three biggest time and money wasters and try cutting them out one at a time for a week. This will have a two-fold benefit: you'll be in a better financial/time management situation and you'll be increasing your will at the same time.
The third thing we should work on being is teachable. This includes both wanting to learn new things and being willing to hear critique and correction. Usually the second one is far harder to handle. The book of Proverbs speaks frequently to both issues. "He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck, will suddenly be broken beyond healing" (Prov. 29:1). "Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge" (Prov. 19:27). "Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future" (Prov. 19:20). "A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke" (Prov. 13:1).
Those who are willing to learn—and more importantly, those who are willing to admit when they are wrong and learn from it—are consistently categorized as wise. Over and over again in Proverbs, wisdom is equated with righteousness, and those who seek after both are promised blessings now and for eternity, the most important of which is to know God. Fortunately for us, if we are willing to admit that we have a wisdom deficiency, God is ready and willing to give it to us (James 1:5). This is because humility precedes asking for wisdom, and true wisdom builds more humility. When we receive the wisdom of God, we can readily recognize that it is not ours, so we don't become prideful. On the other hand, human wisdom puffs up.
If we're going to effectively walk in the Spirit, we need to be willing to be corrected and receive the wisdom of God, both from God and from other people, even those we may not respect or like. When someone comes to us with a complaint, it's easy to feel threatened and attacked. This is because we are finding our identity in something that is shifting, usually our performance. On the other hand, if we are finding our identity in Christ, we can listen when people try to correct us and make the necessary changes. Even when someone is being overly harsh and not approaching us peacefully, we can recognize our part in their pain and hear them out. Our desire to change comes from a God-given love for them and desire to see the relationship restored.
The idea of walking in the Spirit is simple. On the other hand, you will spend the rest of your life trying to do it better. The Holy Spirit is God, which means He has an unfathomable mind and an infinite number of things to teach you. He longs for a relationship with you that will satisfy your deepest desires, use you in ways you can't even imagine, and create in you a passionate love for God. Will you start listening and obeying? Trust, do, trust, repeat.