I was wandering the back yard on a rare sunny afternoon, delighting in springtime joys – when I wound up over at the berry garden. Oh, check it out … the raspberries are coming back to life. Just look at all those new little green leaves!
The raspberry vines sprawled every which way in a big, discombobulated mess!
Our neighbor, down the street and around the corner, has beautiful raspberry vines. He knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to caring for raspberry vines.
In fact, as hubby and I have been taking walks in the evenings after dinner I’ve noticed that our neighbor has all of his raspberry vines pulled up in nice tidy arched hoops and tied to the support wires. That’s probably what I should do. I’ll copy what my super smart neighbor did.
So, I proceeded to step into the berry garden and start to pull the vines up as best I could into tidy bundles so I could tie them to the support wires.
What I noticed right away was that all the newer vines, the ones which grew at the very end of last summer, were very pliable and flexible. It was very easy to lift them off the ground and drape them this way and that against the support structure of the rest of the vines.
On the other hand, the older raspberry vines (the ones from the year before) … they were hard and woody! There was no pliable-ness or flexibility at all!
I couldn’t help but think how much easier it is to be “teachable” when we are younger.
When we are younger, we are like the pliable flexible raspberry vines. When we are “teachable” we can be lifted up off the ground (where we should not be growing) … and we can be pulled up & over to be wrapped around much stronger “support” – which will give us the stability to grow strong and healthy into the future.
As we age in life, we tend to become like the older raspberry vines: hard and woody … no pliable-ness or flexibility anymore.
Love is teachable.
If we want to grow strong and healthy spiritually, if we want to keep producing “spiritual fruit” – we need to remain pliable and “teachable” to what God is trying to do in our life. When God wants to lift us up out of the comfortable complacent place we’ve “taken root” … we need to be pliable and “teachable” to let God “uproot” us out of our complacency and comfortableness.
When God wants to pull us over and tie us up with much stronger “support” so we can have stability – we need to be pliable and “teachable” … letting God take us the direction he knows is best.
As I worked to tidy up the raspberry vines, there was dead growth which needed to be pruned off. I went and grabbed my pruners and cleaned out all that dead material which would only get in the way and be a hindrance to the new growth this year.
So also, in the same way, as God is the “vine-dresser” and the “gardener” he will prune off “dead growth” and “dead areas” in our life (spiritually speaking). There will be some things in our life which need to go. Hanging on to them will only get in the way and be a hindrance to new growth in our life.
Love is teachable.
If we love God, we will be pliable and “teachable” to what God is doing in our life.
In the same way, if we love our spouse we will likewise be “teachable” to the constructive feedback our spouse shares with us.
Those who love us and care about us can see “blind spots” in our life which we can’t see. Love is teachable. If we love them, we will be “teachable” to the constructive feedback they share with us.
If we have an attitude which needs adjustment and which is causing damage in our relationships … those who love us the most will point this out. If we love them, we will be “teachable” to the constructive feedback they share with us.
If we are making poor decisions and bad choices … those who love us the most will point this out to us. If we love them, we will be “teachable” to the constructive feedback they share with us.
If we are not taking care of our health (perhaps we are not going to the doctor for our “Wellness visits” like we should, for example) … those who love us the most will point this out to us. If we love them, we will be “teachable” to the constructive feedback they share with us.
Love is teachable.
“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, let the discerning get guidance.” – Proverbs 1:5
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but the one who hates correction is stupid.” – Proverbs 12:1
“Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” – James 1:19
“Instruct a wise person and they will be wiser still; teach a righteous person, and they will add to their learning.” – Proverbs 9:9
