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Spiritual Maturity Starts Here

                Many stories from the life of David are well known (think “Goliath”), but this less familiar story is one of the best.
David ruled Israel from approximately 1010-970 BC.  During that time, his son, Absalom, gathered an army of his own, rebelled against his father and declared himself king. This, of course, put David in a bind.  He could not allow the rebels to overrun the country and take the throne by force, but he did not want to see his boy harmed.  Eventually, David sent his army out to fight, but he commanded them that they must not hurt Absalom.  He was to be brought back alive. 
                Ultimately, David’s forces won, but, unfortunately, Absalom was killed in the battle.  This sent David into such a deep depression that when the victorious army returned home, David was not there to greet them, thank them or celebrate with them.  In fact, he hid in his palace and was not seen for days.
                Eventually, Joab, the commander of David’s army, confronted David saying, “You have humiliated all your men, who have just saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and the lives of your wives and concubines. You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead. Now go out and encourage your men” (2 Samuel 19:5-7).  You have to admire Joab’s courage.  It would not have been an easy thing to tell the king that he was acting foolishly and doing something wrong, but that is exactly what Joab did.
                The best part of this story is David’s reaction: “So the king got up and took his seat in the gateway” (verse 8).  Did you get that?  When David was told that he was wrong, he listened, admitted his fault and changed.  (David displays this same attitude in 2 Samuel 11 – 12).
    In other words, David was teachable.
                Everyone makes mistakes.  Perfection is not an option.  Therefore, the question becomes, “How do you respond when you are wrong?”  Humility allows our mistakes to become our teachers instead of our undertakers.
                Spiritual maturity and growth is always preceded by a teachable spirit.

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