the learning curve

[Jullianna]

God richly blessed me with several older siblings from whose mistakes I learned so much at an early age. Watching and listening to them go through issues with alcohol/drug addictions, premarital sex, marriage difficulties, etc. taught me not only what not to do, but much about God's grace, restoration power and faithfulness. Seeing how God was able to use them in amazing ways in spite of these things has been very encouraging as well.

Many times I see people going through situations I've faced or God brings something to my mind that I am very hesitant to share (because I'm a very private person), but I go ahead in hope that it may be helpful to someone else. And I have learned a great deal from other posters as well. I have especially gained a better understanding of how men look at things so very differently than we do at times.

The question of this thread is this: Do you think most people have the wisdom to learn from the successes and/or mistakes of others or not? Do you? Examples?

 

[wyler]

The question of this thread is this: Do you think most people have the wisdom to learn from the successes and/or mistakes of others or not? Do you? Examples?

Very interesting thread

When I was younger and not so aware of the world beyond my own I thought everyone had a basic capability to learn from others, to step outside themselves and 'observe' another persons life in order draw wisdom from their mistakes, and equally their great successes.

It's only since I've gotten older, and perhaps more cynical despite growing in faith, that I have come to believe that some people simply don't do it. I wondered for a while if it was because some people are simply 'made that way', but for obvious reasons I couldn't reconcile that with my faith.

Now I believe that it's a massive part of the tragedy of broken lives, when people wound other people through a variety of sins it shuts them down. Not in a way that they stop living, but in a way that moves them by degrees away from the family of man, God's family.
It robs people of the desire, perhaps even the need to connect their soul to someone else's, through caring actions, friendship or even random conversation, and when all these small things die away so does learning, the first and only needed building block of a society, from learning comes all other things.

So I believe that within each person is the potential for great empathy, to be acutely aware and draw lessons from all they are exposed too, but it takes strength in all areas of our lives as we grow to ensure we become an adult who has that 'switched on', it is a journey to get to that place and it happens in childhood.

Some people come switched on, and that is a place of great isolation, but a gift from God none the less, that must be put to use.

 

[Ugly]

I'd say some do, some don't. And of those that do, its usually only in certain areas. I think everyone has at least a streak in them that requires to occasional have to learn things the hard way. Such as when i was engaged, i had a lot of people telling me she was not good for me. I ignored them and had my heart ripped out as a result. But i had older siblings who drank and partied etc.. and i watched the things they did and it helped me to keep away from drugs and alcohol.

 

[Jullianna]

*makes note* Only 3 of us are learning anything so only create goofy threads

 

[ChildrenofNoah]

I have noticed that people having the wisdom to understand and/or learn from their mistakes/successes is a inate ability we all have that is cultivated through life. I honestly believe that a good reading of the bible, especially proverbs and the 4 gospels plus acts, again and again brings true wisdom and increases this ability to gain wisdom through life and the experiences presented to a person throughtout their life both positive and negative.
For those who do not believe in the bible, there are many secular people who obvious present similar books that express how people and 'things' interact.

My whole point being that yes i believe ALL people have the ability but that it is a skill that should be practiced through reading the writings of intelligent people and in the case of a Christian you just can't get better than the word of God. For those who haven't read the bible it may not be too hard to grasp how a book of stories about some jews and a guy called jesus could also contain knowledge and wisdom, but until reading proverbs or the actual words of Jesus in context of the entire 4 gospels and acts it is like trying to understand a movie watching only 15 minutes of the middle..you can get an idea..a well educated guess..but your missing so much..

 

[AAAPlus]

The question of this thread is this: Do you think most people have the wisdom to learn from the successes and/or mistakes of others or not? Do you? Examples?

I'm reading through Judges right now. Every time I read through it I am amazed by how quickly the Israelites fall back into their old ways. They develop this pattern; whenever there is a judge, he/she brings good stuff and people follow God because of their example. Then the judge dies and the people fall back into their old ways again, allowing asherah worship and crazy stuff like that. At first glance I'd say they're just stupid, but then I remember from Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun; they justified their disobedience just like we do today. There was probably some outstanding circumstance each time the Israelites turned away from God; something where if they had trusted God, they would have been better off, but they just couldn't see it. The risk of trusting God like their predecessors had was just too great.

For the most part, I'd say people don't generally learn from the mistakes of others. I'm the rare exception of course

 

[Jullianna]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" ~ Santayana

Sadly, very true. We read in the OT how many times the children of Israel wandered away from God in so many ways. And we think..wow...THEY never learned. But think for a moment how the NT Church has repeated so many of the mistakes of the OT. Grumbling, idol worship, legalism, etc etc... Personally, I have wandered away from God a time or two myself. I hope I'm getting older, wiser and closer to Him so that doesn't happen again.

 

[Catlynn]

I think that's why so many times after God did something big for them they would build an altar; in worship and to remember what God did. Remembering what the Lord has done and what He's brought us out of is so important in how we live our lives, and also in how we raise our children.

"Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.'" So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." (Joshua 4:1-7 NASB)

Hearing all of the amazing stories of the miracles my parents saw on the mission field and the countless times God provided for them really made trusting Him so much easier I think. However, watching them get caught up in everyday life and forget those same things that encouraged me so much in my walk with God is devastating.
I try to keep prayer journals and write down the many many ways that God provides for me and reveals himself to me and those around me.

 

[Ritter]

Do people have the capacity to? Yes. Do they often put such wisdom to practice? No.

That is often the difference between success and failure in both the spiritual and the worldly realms.

 

[Catlynn]

Sorry, I realized I got caught up and forgot to answer the question. lol

Yes I believe it's possible and I do try to the best of my ability to observe and learn from others' mistakes.

 

[Crossfire]

I think that's why so many times after God did something big for them they would build an altar; in worship and to remember what God did. Remembering what the Lord has done and what He's brought us out of is so important in how we live our lives, and also in how we raise our children.

"Now when all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, "Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, and command them, saying, 'Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.'" So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; and Joshua said to them, "Cross again to the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." (Joshua 4:1-7 NASB)

Hearing all of the amazing stories of the miracles my parents saw on the mission field and the countless times God provided for them really made trusting Him so much easier I think. However, watching them get caught up in everyday life and forget those same things that encouraged me so much in my walk with God is devastating.
I try to keep prayer journals and write down the many many ways that God provides for me and reveals himself to me and those around me.

Excellent point Catlynn!

 

[Jullianna]

I agree, Catlynn. God brings us from glory to glory in our lives. Each test we face is not only preparation for tests and tasks to come, but learning opportunities intended to witness to our spirit of His faithfulness and strengthen our own faith. As you say, so often concerns of the world or how we are feeling physically or emotionally enter in and we don't instantly remember these things as we should. Which, I suppose, is a lesson in itself.

 

[Catlynn]

Also why it's so important to continually walk by the Spirit. The Israelites would lose sight of God and forget what He had done when they would see what everyone else was doing and had and desire those things above the things of God. They got caught up within themselves.
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." (Galatians 5:16-17)
How easily we forget when we lose sight of God and His plan and purpose for our lives.
But how blessed we are that God continually calls us back and reminds us of His awesome power.

 

[Catlynn]

Pardon me if none of that made any sense. My brain is dead. Haha

 

[Jullianna]

It makes perfect sense, Catlynn! Awesome scripture too. One of my favorites. So many times I wish I'd had better understanding of it in my teens. It would have saved me a great deal of heartache. I foolishly allowed the behavior of other christians to distract me back then from pursuing the Lord and studying His Word as I should have, and developed a bad case of stupid. I tried it my way and found myself 1200 miles away from my family and friends, depressed, scared, frustrated and bombarded with thoughts of suicide. But God never gave up on me and never let me go.

One of the things I love most about this site is seeing teens here on fire for God. It's soooo important to encourage, support and protect them, as well as all new christians. They are so vulnerable. We all really need to keep them covered in prayer.

I have heard it said that those who have made the most mistakes are the most qualified to give advice. Here's hoping and praying that somehow, some way, threads like this will help at least one person. In my mind, that would make the bumps along the way worth it all.

 

[Crossfire]

I have heard it said that those who have made the most mistakes are the most qualified to give advice. Here's hoping and praying that somehow, some way, threads like this will help at least one person. In my mind, that would make the bumps along the way worth it all.

Amen to that!

 

[Crossfire]

Also why it's so important to continually walk by the Spirit. The Israelites would lose sight of God and forget what He had done when they would see what everyone else was doing and had and desire those things above the things of God. They got caught up within themselves.
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." (Galatians 5:16-17)
How easily we forget when we lose sight of God and His plan and purpose for our lives.
But how blessed we are that God continually calls us back and reminds us of His awesome power.

... A WISE ONE, YOU ARE...

*lol*

Seriously though, I couldn't agree more. The Holy Spirit is far more than just a 'seal' that acts as a bunji cord which keeps us falling into hell as we indulge ourselves in our own sinful selfish lifestyles. The Holy Spirit is the Divine nature of God residing inside of us just waiting for us to rely on His Divine strength in our moment of weakness.

 

[zeroturbulence]

*makes note* Only 3 of us are learning anything so only create goofy threads

I really can't think of anything to add. Its just like the adventure thread where I don't have any stories. I've learned mostly from experience and from people who inspired me (that I only knew for a time) and from self-help gurus and reading women's magazines.

 

[Catlynn]

Hahaha thanks?

 

[aussieguy]

i think alot of people have the capacity to have the wisdom to learn from others but they dont. people including myself along time ago would hear peoples stories and what they went through and you would say to yourself that wont happen to me and then it does and you realise thay were right.

but i believe things can happen and learning from experience is Gods way of showing how much more we need Him, and we can appreciate what He has done in our lives and how he has changed us from what we used to do and who were used to be.
Whether He allowed it to happend or caused it to happen it has help shape and mold us for who we are today and how much more do we appreciate Him for what he has done in our live to bring us to Him now.

and in terms of general learning from others from my own experince that has helped me.... i currently work with kids and in the holidays we run camps for kids who are from the Department of Community Services, these kids are from foster homes and some orphanages and these kids at such a young age have been through so much, they have been abused , whether it be sexually physically or mentally some by the age of 8 have been through all 3 types, parents are in jail, mum or dad or both on drugs etc etc the kids are on all sorts of medication due to their apparent behaviour to the point now we have to have a fully qualified nurse to be able to distribute the drugs to these kids its sad and some actually get addicted to the medication and messes them up. so you get a brief picture of what these kids have been through.

in talking with these kids and working with them i have learnt so much as to how to become a better parent and how to love and to care for kids, what to do and what not to do and which will help me for when i became a parent some day