Never Stop Learning

“You need someone to teach you.” Heb 5:12 NIV

Marlene LeFever quipped, “Becoming an effective teacher is simple. You just prepare and prepare until drops of blood appear on your forehead.” In the 1920s Charlie Chaplin was the most famous person in the world. Born into poverty, he worked onstage to support himself, and by age seventeen he was a veteran performer. Then at age twenty-nine he did something unheard of: he signed the entertainment industry’s first million-dollar contract. But he wasn’t successful simply because he had talent and drive. He was also teachable. He kept learning and perfecting his gift. Even at the height of his career, the highest paid performer in the world didn’t rest on his laurels. He said: “When I watch one of my pictures I pay attention to what the audience doesn’t laugh at. If several audiences don’t laugh at a stunt, I tear it apart and try to discover what’s wrong. On the other hand, if I hear laughter I hadn’t expected, I ask myself why that particular thing rang the bell with the audience.” The truth is, if Charlie Chaplin had replaced teachability with complacency and arrogance we probably wouldn’t even remember his name today. But he didn’t. He never forgot the basics, and he committed himself to learning. Eventually he cofounded United Artists, a mega-movie company that’s still in business today. There’s an important principle in this story. The Bible says, “Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.” If you want God to use you, stay teachable and never stop learning.

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