Welcome to the Cultivating Growth Podcast, where each week we discuss different ways in which we can grow as followers of Christ. This week, John and I will be discussing how we can grow in our understanding. Our understanding of God, who He is, our understanding of His Word, our understanding of His will for us, and much, much more.

It was a joy to discuss this topic, and I'm excited to share this conversation with everyone today. And so with that, let's get right to it. 

Jeremy, as you look throughout scripture, there are two words that seem almost constantly intertwined with one another, and that is wisdom and understanding, and we're going to talk about one of those today, and we'll probably talk about the other one at some point in the future as well. But today we're going to talk about growing in understanding and it's so interesting as you read through especially in the book of Proverbs But in other places in scripture as well when the idea or the the topic of Understanding is mentioned.

It's oftentimes Grouped together with wisdom the in Proverbs Solomon will encourage his son there to get wisdom and understanding That it's something to be acquired. It's something that you're to strive for in some way or pursue in some way. Specifically in Proverbs 4 and verse number 5, he says just that.

Get wisdom, get understanding. Do not forget nor turn away from the words. Of my youth and so I think it's it's interesting as we kind of enter into this discussion. I think sometimes we think that understanding is something that is just going to kind of naturally come to me as I get older I get a little bit older and I understand the world around me better I get a little bit older and I understand what I read a little better I understand people a little better and it's just kind of something that we just absorb as we get older  But what scripture teaches us is it's something that we're actually supposed to go after We're supposed to seek it out and acquire it in some way.

And so I think that shifts our perspective on this topic a little bit when we begin to think about it in that context. Yeah. You know, sometimes somebody told me long ago now. That when we think about wisdom and understanding, and they are, you're right, so closely intertwined.  With knowledge as well, even though there is a distinction, you know, from that.

But you're right, wisdom and understanding is so much, you know, intertwined. But, you know, someone told me long ago that when it comes down to certainly the kind of understanding that God is It is asking us to be about in his word that it ultimately is a choice that we're going to make that, you know There is a choice that I'm I'm searching or I'm reaching for understanding worldly understanding or I'm reaching or I'm searching for Spiritual understanding that one of those two choices is going to be made and so that so that's what you have throughout scripture Not just in the book of Proverbs, even though it's there You  The book of Ecclesiastes is another example that seems the entirety of the book is based off of that contrast.

But even in the pages of the New Testament, over and over and over, you have this incredible contrast that God, He puts up, like on the board in front of us, and He says,  Here is the understanding of the world. Here is the understanding that I'm looking for you to go to. My understanding, godly, spiritual understanding.

Now you've got to make a choice of one of those two. And it seems from the beginning to the end, that battle that man is facing, which position of understanding am I going to play?  And so you're right, now it becomes a very active way, you know, for us to be thinking about. Yeah, I think about my, my kids right now.

I have kids who, they're in second, third, and fourth grade, and much of what their schoolwork is, especially the second grader, it's still very fact heavy, right? She, she is learning the facts of language, she's learning the facts of math, very basic skills in those areas. Yeah. But when understanding really begins to develop,  she will be able then to take all of these facts and all of this knowledge that she has learned, and she'll be able to lift meaning out of. 

And she'll be able to see how it applies in different areas of life. And she'll be able to not just read the words on the page, but to lift the meaning out of those words that she's reading, and how they fit together into sentences, and paragraphs, and story. Those types of things will become more and more evident to her.

That, I think, is really the picture of what understanding is. We're, we're taking the, especially now applying it specifically to our biblical understanding. We're taking the facts that we read as we read through scripture. We're taking the verses that maybe we've committed to memory. And all of the stories that we know and have read, and we're able to lift meaning out of those things.

Now we're beginning to have the understanding that God has talked about. And that's why I think it's so crucial that we continue to approach it. As something that we are going after that we're seeking to acquire because the depth of our understanding can continue to grow as we continue to learn more about who God is and what he wants for man and why he's given us the bible and Why he has told us the stories he's told us.

Why has he preserved? This the way that he has and when we're able to to bring that meaning to life in our lives Then we really begin to to, to make headway in the acquiring of understanding. Yeah, I mean, it is a piece of us. That God is asking for us to give to him.  Our understanding is going to go in one direction.

And it's so much more than just intellectual kind of surface level, you know, thought process. It is a, there's a deepness to it. It is a piece of us. And one way that, that really is kind of striking,  you know, a passage a lot of people are familiar with, you know, it's in other places, Matthew chapter 22, certainly in Mark chapter 12, where I'm turned, where, you know, Jesus is confronted, He's asked about, you know, what is the greatest command?

And He gives an answer that, you know, a lot of us are familiar with. You gotta love, you gotta love God. With all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. And you've got to love your neighbor as yourself. Now that's a, an answer that we understand. And understand that Jesus is saying, listen, you have to give everything.

You've got to give everything to God. But what's interesting is the response to that in verses 32 and 33. Where, you know, one of the scribes that's there, he says, listen, to Jesus, you've spoken the truth. There is one God. There's no other but Him. You've  And then in verse 33, which is really interesting, he says, there is no other God, but you've got to love Him with all your heart, with all the understanding.

And with all the soul, with all the strength, and you've got to love your neighbor as yourself. And Jesus says, you've answered wisely. That's, that's the right thinking. But it's interesting on how he, when Jesus says, you've got to give everything, he is hearing, and he's rightly understand, you know, you know, I'll throw that understanding, right?

That, that's a part of what we have to give to God. That, that is that deep discernment and understanding about who he is and what he said. I think in a lot of ways, that kind of sums up even why Jesus came. He came to bring understanding to mankind. You know, we think about some of the  people that Jesus interacted with while he was on earth, even some of his closest friends, they were struggling to understand.

They, they were really struggling to, to piece together the old law and the prophecies and how that was going to come about. They didn't really understand how all that was going to take place and Jesus came to bring understanding in a lot of ways. And that very idea is, is reiterated in first John chapter five is in John closes out this letter.

He says in verse 20, we know that the son of God. has come and has given us an understanding. That we may know Him who is true. And so he recognizes, he looks back now, this perspective, looks back on the life of Jesus. He recognizes that Jesus came to give us an understanding of who He is, and His will for mankind.

And so that helps, again, broaden the meaning of Jesus. of Jesus's life, the meaning of his teaching. And we look into the pages of the New Testament that tell us the story of Jesus and share with us his words. It now opens the door to our understanding of who he is and why he came. And again, that, that really then completes the picture that God has painted from Genesis all the way to Revelation, that Jesus has come.

Had to be that sacrifice for mankind so that our sins could be forgiven so that we can have a relationship with him And it's really by looking to jesus Investigating him in every way thinking about what he has done Spending time discerning some of the words that he gave to us We come to a better and deeper understanding of who he is and why he came Yeah, I was thinking about you know this topic a little bit ago before we started You And, you know, sometimes we're like, well, you know, why is it that people struggle with understanding?

What, what is the, what's the holdup? You know, I was also thinking, it was a few weeks ago, we talked about on this podcast, a cultivator in our growth when it comes to listening. And and we talked about, you know, lots of different arenas when it comes to our listening. But certainly we, we made mention of the importance of listening to God. 

And that ultimately has to happen. We made mention of Jesus over and over. If you have an ear to hear, let him hear. And so we talked about listening is opening ourselves up to pull in understanding and wisdom. It's what allows understanding and wisdom to grow and to cultivate. But yet if we close that off, now we're going to stunt it.

wisdom. We're gonna stunt, you know, understanding that if we harden ourselves, whether you want to use the parable of the sower, whether you want to use Ephesians chapter 4, where Paul makes mention of the Gentiles and the futility of their mind, they were not with, not able to understand because of the hardness of their hearts. 

He's painting that picture that, yeah, there's a way that we can struggle with understanding, and most of the time it's when we are closing ourselves off to the truth that God is trying to present us with. You know, as you were talking, I was thinking about Proverbs chapter 3, And verse number five, because the, the caution that is given to us there, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

And I think that's precisely what you were just talking about there. There's a danger in putting our reliance in our own understanding instead of God and his understanding that he has revealed.  That's really what the Bible is doing. It's revealing to us the mind of God. And in doing so, it opens our eyes to His understanding.

Because our understanding is fallible. We, we, we fail all the time. We misunderstand things all the time. But with God, He has perfect understanding. And He has chosen to reveal that to us. And so we now have a responsibility. to think about our own understanding and God's understanding and make sure that we're choosing God's understanding of the world, God's understanding of spirituality, God's understanding of the church, God's understanding of marriage, the list could go on and on because he is the one that has created these things.

He is the one who has revealed these things to us, and so we should lean on His understanding instead of our own. It's the only place that this kind of understanding comes from. I mean, Psalm 119 is a long, long, long chapter. Each and every verse points to God's words and the importance of God's words. So we shouldn't be surprised that there is something specific about our understanding where it comes from.

In Psalm 119, it's in verse 104, or through your people. Precepts, I get understanding. That's where understanding comes from. It's not coming from me or it doesn't come from the world It comes from God And so he ultimately is the one that we've got to listen to and then that we ultimately got to choose His wisdom and the understanding of his way.

Yeah, we'll go ahead and stop there for the day Hopefully this has given us all something to consider as as we seek to grow in our understanding and we seek to Strive after it and acquire it As we talked about earlier and we're going to close there in Proverbs chapter 3 I referenced a passage in Proverbs 3 just a moment ago, but just a little further down from where I was This is how Solomon Will address this topic and we'll end with these words happy is the man who finds wisdom And the man who gains understanding. 

Thank you for listening this week. If you haven't already done so, we'd appreciate it if you would take just a second to subscribe to the podcast, whatever platform you're listening, rate and review the show so we can continue to spread the good news of Jesus widely and effectively as possible. Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk again next week.