The Importance of Understanding

I got another lesson in the importance of understanding through helping me daughter with her schoolwork.

She’s a bright girl is me daughter (note I’m not being specific for reasons that shall emerge in the fullness of time).  She’s switched on and is alert and attentive to what’s going on and can grasp concepts very well when she’s properly focussed.  Sometimes a bit like her old man, she can want to skip bits to get to the answer as quickly as possible.  This skipping business, though, can lead to some trip ups as was the case when she presented her homework on one occasion.  Rather than reading the instructions, she went to putting down the answers and seeing how it went.  No surprise, she got some of the questions wrong.  So we took the time together to read through the instructions, understand what was required and lo and behold with no further assistance from her pops needed she was able to complete the homework.

Reminded me once more that sometimes we’re looking for outcomes without appreciating the processes and if we don’t at least understand these then we’ll forever be complaining about not getting the outcomes we’re looking for.  This is even more important for our journey of faith because throughout scripture it is implicit that the not-so-nice stuff like death, suffering, persecution and that jazz are in the contract.  The brochure that life offers would want us to avoid that stuff and following Jesus almost requires us to embrace it.  If we don’t take the time to at least understand the process – i.e. the character of Jesus being grown in us – then we will be stumped, and stagnate.

So rather than get the answers wrong again on the assignment, it is worth us understanding the process once more.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

dmcd