20/20/20

20/20 vision means you have 'perfect' vision.  You can have better vision, but 20/20 is the standard when it comes to having good eyesight.  I don't know that it will ever become the standard of devotions, but I have recently adopted a new approach to my devotional time.  It is the 20/20/20 approach (yes this idea I took from someone else).  The idea is for me to spend 20 minutes reading my Bible, 20 minutes journaling on one verse from my reading, and then 20 minutes praying about how to apply that verse to my life.  One hour, broken down into three equal, 20 minute, sections.

Here is my entry from my 20 minutes of journaling this morning.  Not terribly profound, but it is what I wrote.  My reason for sharing is not to enlighten you with some great truth I found in scripture, but to show you my recent approach.  That way if you want, you can take and use it as well.

Oh yeah, one more thing, you have to read the title in a cheesy television infomercial voice.

title// double your learning capacity in one easy step!

scripture// whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.  proverbs 12:1

observation// a short verse, but a powerful truth.  being open to correction gives us opportunities to grow and mature that we otherwise would not have had.  being defensive and not open to listening to the instruction of others does not allow us to learn from our mistakes, and limits our opportunities for growth.  solomon, the author of this proverb, realizes if we are to 'grow in knowledge' as much as we should, we need to be open to correction.

application// someone smarter than me once said, 'if i can learn from my mistakes as well as my successes then i will learn twice as much in life.'  i would love to be able to say i always do this…that i always try to learn from my mistakes, and the correction, i receive.  the reality is though when someone addresses an issue with me i usually slip into defense.  i try justify my actions, or deflect the blame to someone else.  i am not sure why i do it.  insecurity….perhaps.  a need to always be right…probably part of it.  whatever the reason, it is certainly true that i do not 'love' correction.

prayer// GOD help me to be open to correction.  i realize that correction is one way i grow as a person and in my relationship with YOU.  help me to not justify, rationalize, or cover up my mistakes, but to learn from them, and the correction that comes with them.  help me to love correction, so i can learn twice as much in life.