Proverbs 26:12 Unteachable
An unteachable person is one who believes he/she knows EVERYTHING, and can do ANYTHING. Because they are unteachable, they are also unreachable.
If you have ever watched the television game show Jeopardy, you have watched some amazing people with a LOT of knowledge. But even they had places where they lacked the right answer. NO ONE know EVERYTHING.
The players on Jeopardy also have areas of skills where they lack in ability. How many of them do you think it would take to replumb a house? Or how many to fly a space craft? NO ONE can DO everything either.
We all have areas where we shine and areas where we need work. When we refuse to accept this, we have BIG problems!
The person who refuses to believe they have anything to learn is beyond our help. They believe they are beyond the need of anyone, including God. God says even the “fool” has more hope than they do. What kind of “hope” could a person who knows everything possibly need?
Their first need is the TRUTH! The truth is that they are lost and alone. There is a ‘road map’ but they refuse to consult it. There are hands reaching out to help but they bat them away. There is a way out of this condition but they refuse to admit a problem even exists.
Second, NO MAN can save himself. Without the work of Jesus, we are dead in our sin. This is the first truth that needs to be accepted by everyone. If there had been ANY OTHER WAY, God would have used it. We CANNOT learn, earn, or buy our way into Heaven. And there is no one more in need of this truth of salvation than the one who believes himself perfect.
The next part of the truth is that we all need one another. No man is an island. God noticed this from the beginning, so He made Eve. When you pretend to know EVERYTHING, you drive people away, resulting in aloneness. People don’t want to be around those who make them always feel inferior or as though they are not enough.
After this, they need to learn how to ask for AND accept help. This is a hard lesson to learn, even for those of us who know we DON’T know everything. It requires being vulnerable; exposing your weaknesses. And it involves trusting that the other person(s) won’t take advantage of that weakness.
The unteachable person will break instead of bend. And when they do break it won’t be a simple crack but a shattering of who they held themselves to be. This kind of breaking is one that can ONLY be repaired by God. The ‘repair’ will be better than the original because then the person will KNOW the truths we already do. We NEED God, we NEED each other, and there is NOTHING wrong with not being perfect in ALL things.
Father God, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t let me become wise in my own eyes! I know I have been ‘independent’ and ‘self-sufficient’ in my own eyes before. But those beliefs limited my world a LOT. I could only reach the point of my sufficiency; never beyond it. YOU taught me there was more. Places to reach where others would meet me. Places where You would take me that I couldn’t go alone. Places full of wonder and love because of Who/who I traveled with. This warrior IS a child! And she needs her Father to hold her when the battles become too much. Even in the victory places I need You to hold me! Help me to see myself as You see me.
