Learn   Unlearn   Let Go   Reach and Re-learn     The progression of advancing in life.

When you start a young horse, you are training him from the first moment that you have contact with him.  The trainer conditions the horse to respond to cues to get the horse to do certain things.  The cues must be clear, concise, and consistent to produce a confident, consistent horse.  When he responds wrong to the cue, he is made uncomfortable.  When he responds right, he is rewarded.  Repetition - reward - or punishment is how horses are trained.  When the horse advances to the point of becoming a show horse, there is a changing process that must take place.  The trainer must unlearn training, let go, trust the horse, reach and re-learn something new. He learns to become a showman. I've seen people who cannot stop training and don't let their horses perform.  The horse will make some mistakes when he is asked for more, but he must be allowed to make those mistakes and be corrected to become a winner. Continuing to train in the show pen is not conducive to winning after a certain point.  Great competitors are trainers who know when that point in time comes to reach and go for it!  They know when practice stops and competition starts. 

It is the same way in raising children.  You as a parent are always in control of what your child is doing, what they are eating, who they are around, etc. You are always training them. There is a time in their lives when you have to start letting them go, letting them make their own mistakes and letting them grow as a person.  If you do not let go, you will retard their growth just as a trainer retards their horse by continuing to hold their performance in the practice mode.  When your child grows up and marries, you must unlearn parenting, let go, and reach to learn to become a listener, supporter, friend and helper.  In other words, for my child to reach his or her full potential depends somewhat upon how much I unlearn, let go, reach and re-learn.  If a parent continues training after their child has married and established their own home, they may find that they are not very welcome in the home of the new couple!  Many problems could be avoided if mom and dad could just unlearn, let go, reach, and re-learn at that point in time. 

A great example of this was given to us in the last part of Gospels and the first part of the book of Acts.  Read over it this week and think about how the disciples had been followers of Jesus for over 2 years.  They were students.  He was teaching them many things.  When he was crucified on the cross, they became frightened, scattered, and even went back to their old jobs.  They hadn't yet understood that they were being groomed to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.  They didn't know that they were going to unlearn being a follower and a student, let go, reach, and re-learn to be leaders.  Jesus came back to instruct them to remember what He taught them and to tell them to make disciples of all the Nations.   You can read what He told them in Matt: 28:18, Mark 16:15, Luke 24, and John 21. You can read how they responded in the book of Acts.  They carried out what He asked them to do - what He had trained them to do. 

Learn, unlearn, let go, reach, and re-learn.  This is the progression of advancing daily in our lives.  To learn something and never use it is to get stuck in the practice mode.  We must grow from what lies behind us and always be pressing forward to what lies ahead.  The greatest horses I've ever ridden could use their early training and progress on to giving their all when the money was down and it was time to reach and stretch.  It is time for Christians to press on, reach forward, let go, and  re-learn how to be leaders. We have gone to church, studied and learned.  We know John 3:16.  That is enough knowledge to explain to people how to be Saved.   Jesus Christ has given us the Holy Spirit.  God covers us with His grace when we make mistakes. The world is longing for leaders. God is looking for those whose hearts are willing. 

Time has come to use your training.   Reach