We all want to be healthy and we all know the principles of health, such as exercise, eating habits, managing emotions, managing stress, positive thinking, etc., but we have a hard time implementing them in our lives. When the doctor tells us that we have 3H (high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol), we may be nervous for a while, determined to exercise, to control our diet, to manage our emotions, etc., but after a few weeks of implementation, we return to our old lifestyle.
Why does it so hard to implement the knowledge in our lives?
What good is “knowing” if what we know cannot be applied in our life?
In fact, knowing but not doing is the same as not knowing. Knowledge is only true knowledge if it is put into practice, otherwise it is false knowledge. We will forget what we have learnt in a short while. This is why Sunday sermons are ineffective. If we do not apply the sermon immediately after hearing it to deepen the impression of the message in our minds, then our minds will not store the message as a long-term memory. Generally, we will forget all the teaching we have heard in a day or two at the most. So, what is the difference between that and not listening at all?
A doctor, after learning about medicine, must practice in the hospital for a long time in order to bring out what he/she has learnt, otherwise he/she cannot become a doctor even if he/she has graduated in medicine.
A lawyer, after learning about the law, must practice in the court or in the workplace to bring what he has learnt into practice, otherwise he will not be a competent lawyer even if he has graduated with a first-class degree in law.
A pastor, even with a doctorate in theology, can be a disaster to the church if he did not follow the Word of God.
An automobile mechanic, who has learnt all the principles of automobiles, but has never repaired a car, even if he has tested it for faults, has no way of fixing it.
Basically, knowledge without practice is not really knowledge, it is just cool on its own.
True knowledge is knowledge in practice. Knowledge is real knowledge when we live out the knowledge.
There is a Chinese saying that it is easy to know but difficult to practice. This saying is wrong. Without action, there is no knowledge, so how can knowing be easy and action be difficult? Knowledge and action are two in one. If there is knowledge, there must be action, and if there is action, there will naturally be knowledge. This is what the Chinese Philosopher Wang Yang Ming called the unity of knowledge and action.
The goal of discipleship training is to progress in true knowledge. When we learn, we must apply it in life. Repeated compliance deepens the learning. This is the purpose-oriented discipleship and intentional discipleship training.