The Process of Personal Transformation: Defining Education

Knowledge, Wisdom, Understanding

Series Collection

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

The Bible talks a lot about “education” in the form of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Understanding. While these three aspects of education are related and work together as building blocks of personal growth and transformation, they mean slightly different things. Taken as a whole, however, they represent the larger picture of the learning process.

One place, for example, is Exodus 31:1-5

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

To be clear, we're not talking about going back to school. Education comes in many different forms, While formal school may be a necessary starting point for some, let's think of education in terms of the acquisition of knowledge vs. just classroom learning.

What if you could get all the training and information you need to move forward in your life almost free? The primary cost would be the time and effort invested. That is possible today.

Active personal transformation uses all of these tools: the Rudder of Knowledge, the Paddle of Understanding, and the Sail of Wisdom.

Knowledge comes in many different forms. With the advent of the Internet, knowledge is more affordable, more accessible, and more available than ever before. It is at our fingertips – more so than at any point in recorded history.

“Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind …” - Romans 12:2

Personal transformation, whether spiritual, mental, or physical is about renewing our minds. How we think affects every aspect of our lives.

• Our perception of how others see or think about us affects how we see ourselves.

• How we see ourselves affects our confidence and the outcome of what we do.

• Our view of the role of government affects our ability to function successfully in society.

The primary premise of Earl Nightingale’s famous classic, The Strangest Secret (free YouTube audio version) is that “We become what we think about”.

Two Broad Categories of Education

Education encompasses everything that produces spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical maturity and growth. It can be broken down into two broad categories:

Formal - primary, secondary, undergraduate, and graduate schools, job training, apprenticeships, etc.

Informal - all active and passive self-directed learning.

Both are extremely important for success in life’s pursuits. However, since the majority of readers of this series probably have completed the formal part of their education, at least through the undergraduate stage, I want to focus more on informal education.

First, we should become an avid student of the Bible. It is an amazingly practical book for all areas of life.

For instance, in the first chapter of the book of Joshua we are given a very practical success principle -

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” - Joshua 1:8

Everyone wants success, but few are willing to do what is required to be successful. Reading is one of those things. Reading is simple and it’s easy to do. The issue is that it is also easy not to do.

Reading is even free for the most part. Yet most people would rather sit mindlessly in front of the TV watching fruitless drivel. Others are addicted to sports to the point where it affects their family relationships.

And they wonder why they can't get ahead in life.

If you haven't guessed by now, one of my all-time favorite mentors (by way of book and audio) is Jim Rohn. Something he wrote has stayed with me for years:

Formal education will make you a living, informal education will make you a fortune. - Jim Rohn

Take some time to think about that.

Maybe our goal is not to make a fortune and that’s fine. The point is that the principle applies no matter what our calling in life may be.

Proverbs 8:11 teaches that Wisdom is more important than riches. Why is that? Because riches may disappear rather quickly. We have certainly seen that happen in market crashes.

The Knowledge, understanding, and wisdom attained through education (formal and informal), however, is still there and can be applied over and over again to quickly rebuild what we lost. We can start over with a huge advantage without having to go through an extended learning curve.

The point I am making is that education doesn't (or shouldn't) stop when you receive your diploma or degree. Many times I have heard parents say about their children, “Well, we got them through college. Glad that's out of the way!”

Education gets checked off the bucket list of life, never to be actively pursued again.

Let me just say this – you are reading this series because you know deep down in your heart this is not true. Learning, whether formal, informal, active, or passive will continue until we die. It is going on constantly in each of our lives through the practice and reinforcement of both negative and positive habits and patterns of life.

Instead of aimlessly drifting along, we can direct our course in life using the Rudder of knowledge, the Paddle of understanding, and the Sail of wisdom.

Who we are and what we do now is the summation of how we have lived our lives up to this point. What we are doing today will become a part of who we are and what we do tomorrow. Sadly, most of it is passive.

But, what if we took a more active role in how our lives unfold? What if we mapped out a deliberate strategy to go in a certain direction? Doesn't it stand to reason that if we were to direct what we learn and do today tomorrow we would be closer to where we want to be?

Remember Earl Nightingale’s, “We Become What We Think About”?

We would do well to periodically stop and assess who we are becoming based on what occupies our thoughts.

Next week, we’ll take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of formal and informal education.

Until next time, friends.

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