Are You Teachable? Part One (Proverbs 10:17)
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Proverbs 10:17
Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.
We’ve been talking about discipline a lot this week, and today’s verse keeps that going. But when I read it, one thing jumps out at me – are you teachable?
Growing up playing baseball and basketball, one thing my coaches always said stuck with me: It’s easy to coach someone who wants to be coached. That’s 100% true in sports – but it’s also true in life.
Last summer in the business world, I kept hearing the same advice: “Be a sponge.” Take in everything. Learn from those ahead of you. It’s the same thing my teachers want at UNC. It’s what my parents wanted when I was growing up. Because being teachable? It goes a long way.
In fact, Proverbs 10:17 says the one who “heeds instruction” – the one who listens and learns, the one who is teachable – “is on the path to life.”
But here’s the thing – your teachability doesn’t just affect you. It shapes the people around you.
I’ve seen it firsthand. A teammate who refuses to listen? That attitude spreads. It drags the team down. Same in the classroom. Same in life. That’s exactly what Proverbs 10:17 warns us about. If you heed instruction, you’re on the path to life. But if you reject reproof, it’s not just your loss – you lead others astray.
And this “rejecting reproof” isn’t just ignoring advice – it’s ignoring the voice that can save you. That’s why this verse matters so much spiritually. The greatest instruction we can heed is the Gospel itself – the good news of Jesus Christ. He is the path to life, and rejecting Him is the ultimate rejection of wisdom.
In that sense, I never want to harden my heart or close my ear to the voice of God. With Him, even more so than a coach, parent, or boss, I want to be teachable. I want to heed His instruction and His Word because it does lead to life.
“Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life” because they will become more and more like Jesus, the Giver of life.
So I’ll ask you again: Are you teachable?
Do you desire to be taught? Are you asking the Lord through His Word to speak to you like we saw in Proverbs 6, instruct you, and truly be a lamp unto your feet?
Also, who in your life is affected by whether you’re teachable or not? Your friend, spouse, or someone else?
Proverbs 10:17 has always encouraged me to pray that the Lord would:
Teach me His ways and instruct me in the path I should go.
Prepare my heart to receive it. To have a heart that desires to be taught, to learn, to be coached, and to heed instruction, rather than reject it.
So let’s ask God for that today. That He would teach us His ways, guide us in His wisdom, and soften our hearts to receive it. That we’d want to be taught – by His Word, by His Spirit, and by the people He’s placed in our lives.
