Learning as a Choice

I recently attended a class my husband taught on how adults learn. I learned a lot during that session. He defined learning as a change of behavior as a result of experience.

In school, many children learn simply because it is a requirement. The goal is to know the material well enough to pass the test and move on. In that environment, because some subjects are not particularly interesting to the student, the information may be lost after the testing is over. Only those subjects that are of the student's choosing are retained and built upon.

An adult, more often than not, learns because he wants to. When a person is motivated to learn, he will do much more than what is required. He will research on his own and study often in order to increase his knowledge.

As a flight instructor, my husband was also able to give an illustration about those who want to learn to fly. The closer in time the lessons are, the faster the learning. In other words, it is best to fly once or twice a week rather than once a month. The frequency helps set in place the things that have been learned, making it easier to build upon the next principle.

Experiential learning is much better than knowledge of theory of a subject. When you put into practice things you have learned, they become part of you. It is more than temporary knowledge. It is true learning.

Many people know things about God. Some have even gone to religious schools or passed catechism classes. However, some are like the demons who believe that there is one God and shudder. Knowing about God does not mean that someone has experienced His love, truly knowing Him.

Only those who want to experience a relationship with God really do know Him. The test of that knowledge is whether or not God's love, received through His Son Jesus Christ, resides within you.

Those who truly know Him will want to spend time with Him. Just as student pilots retain their desired information better when they fly more often, believers grow in the Lord by spending frequent time with Him - learning from His Word and His nature. Christians are different because of Jesus. Experiencing His love changes their behavior. They want to become like Him.

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me: and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves (John 5:39-42). The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love... We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:8, 19 NASB).