Week 10 - Pride vs. a Teachable Spirit
MONDAY — Read the passage with your team.
18 Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.
19 Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed
than to share plunder with the proud.
20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
21 The wise in heart are called discerning,
and pleasant words promote instruction.
22 Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it,
but folly brings punishment to fools.
23 A wise man's heart guides his mouth,
and his lips promote instruction.
24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
25 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but in the end it leads to death.
Proverbs 16:18-25
What does this passage have to say about a teachable spirit?
Why is that important?
TUESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.
1) This portion of Scripture begins with a warning against what attitude (v. 18)? What will this kind of haughty spirit cause, according to the same verse?
2) The proud person thinks he “knows it all”, but what habit (v. 20) demonstrates an attitude that is opposite to pride? The person who has a teachable spirit is the opposite of a proud person, because he trusts in whom (v. 20)? What is the result of being teachable (v. 20), in contrast to the consequence of pride?
3) A willingness to be teachable produces two very positive qualities (vs. 21-22) — wisdom/discernment and understanding. Why are these qualities displayed in the life of a teachable person?
WEDNESDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.
4) This passage tells us that a person who is unwilling to be taught is a “fool” (v. 22), but it goes even further. It seems that using your own common sense (following “a way that seems right to a man” - v. 25) and not being willing to consider other ideas also qualifies you as a fool. If a person were to continue through life with that attitude, what would be his end (v. 25)? What kind of death are we talking about here?
5) When you look at the current culture of sports, how often do you see athletes who (because they are “wise in their own eyes”) will not listen to God or their coaches? What difference would trusting God make in the arena of athletics? What difference would trusting God make in your own athletic habits?
THURSDAY — Discuss the passage with your team.
Twice this passage mentions “pleasant words.”
6) What do pleasant words help to develop (vs. 21)? How can coaches and athletes put this truth into practice? Are your practices more effective when they are filled with encouragement? Make a team commitment to calling out encouragements all throughout practice for a day, and see what happens.
7) What effect do pleasant words have (vs. 24)? If you treat others with kindness, might they be more likely to hear what you have to say? As a team, try committing to a “code of kindness,” and evaluate its effect on the growth of your team.
FRIDAY — Discuss sport applications of teachability, and pray together.
· Ask your athletes to briefly reflect on what they’ve learned about a teachable spirit this week, and to repeat some of those things. (Remind them of some of the Biblical truths about teachability you’ve discussed, if necessary.)
· Ask your team, “Based on what we learned about a teachable spirit this week...What does a teachable athlete do?” Do not settle for vague answers; challenge your athletes to go beyond general qualities of a teachable athlete, and to determine what those qualities look like in action.
· Add the results to your team’s list of descriptions of the “teachable athlete”, and be sure the list is displayed somewhere that is constantly visible, as a reminder to the team.
· Pray together as a team. Encourage your athletes to pray for your team’s growth in regard to the discipline of a teachable spirit — especially in relation to some of the issues and challenges that you discussed together this week. Challenge them to also ask for forgiveness, when applicable. Give time for athletes to request prayer (regarding teachability or anything else), and pray together.
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