Being Teachable

To my daughter,

               I want to write to you today about being teachable. To be teachable means that you are humble and willing to learn from others. It means that you recognize the fact that others—such as parents and teachers and church leaders—have important knowledge to impart to you. To be teachable means that you are willing to listen to what others have to say in a spirit of meekness and to follow their counsel when it is right. Most importantly it means to be willing to hear and heed the voice of the Lord, striving to keep His commandments. 

                One of the best examples of being teachable in the scriptures is Abraham. He was a great prophet, yet at the same time he was humble and teachable and submissive. He wrote, “I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God” (Abraham 1:2). He was seeking diligently to be a follower of righteousness and to keep the Lord’s commandments; he was “desiring to receive instructions.” Have you ever desired to receive instructions? That is a sure sign of being teachable, to recognize our need for instruction and direction from the Lord and others. Abraham did indeed receive instruction, and the Lord saved his life and led him and his family into the land of promise. His desire to receive instructions reminds of these words of the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “And they shall also be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few, and with revelations in their time—they that are faithful and diligent before me” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:4). Here the Lord was suggesting that if we are faithful and diligent, he will bless us with commandments! Have you ever thought of commandments and instructions as blessings? When they come from God they really are, for the more we keep His commandments and do what He asks, the more like Him we will become.

               Of course, our perfect example of being teachable was the Savior Himself. Though He was perfect, without sin, yet He was completely submissive to His Father and did whatever His Father asked. He declared, “I do always those things that please Him” (John 8:29)  The Savior also told the people, “I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). He always sought to do the things that His Father asked of Him, setting aside His own will. This was most evident as He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane when the weight of the sins of the world came upon Him. The pain was so bad that He prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” When He knew that the Father did want Him to complete the atonement and suffer for our sins, He then prayed, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done” (Matt. 26:39, 42). He was perfectly teachable as He accomplished the will of His Father despite the pain that came to Him as a result.

               Throughout your life you will have countless teachers, in school and sports activities and in music lessons and church classes. Every one of those teachers will be imperfect and make mistakes, just as your Mom and I do. But every one of those teachers will also have something important to teach you; they will have wisdom and experience that you do not have. They will have knowledge and understanding that you need to have. And if you let yourself be teachable and listen sincerely to them, giving them the benefit of the doubt when you see their faults and focusing on the good they have to offer, you will be blessed and be able to learn all those things your Heavenly Father needs you to know. You have a great mission here on earth to accomplish—and you won’t be able to do it without learning first at a young age from all those the Lord has placed before you to teach and train you.

 

Love,

Dad