Learning Styles are God's Speaking Styles

As an educator for 15 years, I have learned a lot about learning styles--or more accurately, I have been forced into professional development sessions where the topic is learning styles. A learning style is the preferred method of absorbing, processing and retaining information. The first time I heard about learning styles, with an eye-roll and a sigh, I thought it was a bunch of hog-wash. The more I learned about it, however, the more merit I found in learning styles. It made me realize why I can't focus on a speaker's words unless I am taking notes or doodling. It made me realize why I hated listening to directions, and I just wanted someone to hand it to me so I could read it myself. It's because I'm a visual learner--processing auditory information has always been difficult for me.

Depending on which list you look at, there are several categories into which learning styles can be broken down. The easiest is to break it down into three categories: visual, auditory and kinesthetic.

• Visual: using pictures, words, images and reading as a primary source of gathering information.
• Auditory: learning through hearing, listening and music
• Kinesthetic/Tactile: learning by doing, feeling and experiencing

These three primary learning styles were first brought into popular education models by Walter Burke Barbe in the late 1970's. It is said that a student's preferred learning style will have a significant influence on both his/her learning and behavior. Teachers, therefore, should match learning strategies with the student's preferred learning style in order to increase comprehension and motivation. The shift in education over the past few decades to accommodate students in their preferred learning styles has been profound. Most modern high school students would be able to readily tell you their preferred learning style. If you would like to figure out your learning style, you can take this Learning Style Assessment.

Digging a little bit deeper, a more comprehensive list will divide out these three primary learning styles into more specific categories:

• Visual/spatial: using pictures, images, and spatial understanding.
• Verbal/linguistic: using words, both in speech and writing.
• Auditory/musical: using sound and music.
• Logical/mathematical: using logic, reasoning and systems.
• Kinesthetic/Tactile: using your body, hands and sense of touch.
• Interpersonal: preference is to learn in groups or with other people.
• Intrapersonal: preference is to work alone and use self-study.

I'm sure that you can identify with at least one of these learning styles as you were reading them. Our learning style makes us even more unique individuals, especially when learning styles are combined with one another--no two people learn the exact same way. I am a visual learner, but I'm also verbal and logical. One afternoon as I was praying, and God revealed to me something amazing--He speaks to us in our learning styles!

I have never been one to "hear God's voice." I've never heard an audible voice from heaven come down and talk to me. For a large portion of my life, I thought this was how God spoke. Everyone always talked about "hearing God's voice," and I didn't hear Him in this manner, so I thought God just didn't speak to me.

When God showed me that He can speak in more ways than a voice, it was an absolute revelation. Most of the time, God shows me pictures. As I try to understand the picture, He reveals to me what He wants me to understand. This matches perfectly with my visual learning style and verbal strengths. For an example of how God shows me pictures and then unravels them, read Mashed Potatoes or Dancing with Jesus. He's shown me red carpets, boats on the lake, tile flooring, purple irises, horse on the beach, and many more pictures--all of which, once unraveled, the picture was exactly what God wanted to tell me.

So let's look at the learning styles and how God might speak to you using your specific learning style.

• Visual/spatial: look for God to give you visions and pictures. Look for God in things you see, then ask God to show you meaning in what you see.
• Verbal/linguistic: God will speak to you through the reading of His Word, through the words of other people, through blogs, sermons and other written media.
• Auditory/musical: God speaks to you through worship and music. You will literally hear His voice--probably even audibly.
• Logical/mathematical: God will speak to you through science, through the perfectness of His creation, through numbers and logic.
• Kinesthetic: You will experience God through feeling and touching. This is the goose-bumps you feel when you're in His presence. You will get "impressions" and feelings that you need to say or do something. You probably have said, "I feel like God is saying..."
• Interpersonal: As an extrovert, you will feel refreshed, both emotionally and spiritually by spending time with other like-minded Christians. You will enjoy talking and sharing your experiences with others.
• Intrapersonal: As in introvert, you will get more from the Word of God by reading and studying on your own. Spending time with God alone will make you feel recharged and ready to face your battles with the Lord on your side.

Why would we ever want to limit our omniscient, omnipotent God by putting Him in a box when it comes to His voice? If He can breathe the world into existence, He can speak to anyone in any way He wants, whether it's a burning bush or a still, quiet voice.

At the Water's Edge

The sun slowly drops into the water, and feeble rays of sunlight cast long shadows of masts and sails on the rickety dock. The breeze coming off the water gently cools my sun-burned face. I close my eyes, and I drink in the humid air. I should have gone in hours ago, but there’s something about being right next to the water that draws me in, that beckons me to stay.

So many of life’s lessons can be learned at the edge of a dock. Watching the gentle waves reminds me of the Lord’s goodness. His lovingkindness never ends, and He will wash over me wave after wave. When I make a mistake, He doesn’t change—the waves don’t stop—I do. I have to make sure I don’t stop, because I have to trust that He won’t.

The tremendous power of the water reminds me how small and insignificant I really am. The only way I can make a substantial change to that expanse of water is repeatedly making consistent movements. If I persevere, then it can take me across the expanse of water where I want to go. If I give up, or if I stop, the water will consume me. In the same way, I also can’t tread water forever. I have to move in one direction or another. If I don’t reach shore at some point, then I will tire out and drown.

And drowning isn’t the only horrific thing that could happen on the water. There are unknown dangers lurking just beneath the surface. Will those dangers—or the possibility of failure—prevent me from jumping in—or trying something new? I have found that the answer must be no. I cannot let hidden dangers—or fear—prevent me from becoming all that God has created me to be.

The steadfastness of the Lord's love, the perseverance I must have, the faith regardless of circumstances are just the few lessons I've learned next to the water. But I don't want to stay next to the water. I want to be called out upon the water. The Hillsong United song, Oceans, speaks about how God "call[s] me out upon the waters/ The great unknown where feet may fail/ And there I find You in the mystery/ In oceans deep/ My faith will stand."

I want the Lord to call me out upon the water, just like He called Peter in Matthew 14. I want to keep my eyes on the Lord. I don't want to be "ye of little faith." I want to be of great faith. When fear surrounds me, I want my gaze affixed to the Lord. When the storm is upon me, I want Jesus to hold out His hand to me and keep me safe. I want to walk in that faith every day. 

Power, Love and a Sound Mind

When confronted with fear, a commonly quoted scripture is 2 Timothy 1:7, "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind." It's comforting to know that God has given us these things, and that the fear we feel is not from the Lord. What's even more comforting and cool is when you use a little logic and apply this scripture to other scriptures. Let's examine more closely the three things we are told that God has given us:

Power
Acts 1:8 says that "I shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon me." Then 2 Corinthians 12:9 says that "power is perfected in our weakness." So that means that when the Holy Spirit comes upon me, I am perfected in my weakness and the Holy Spirit is perfected in me as well. Not only am I perfected, but that power--the Holy Spirit--actually is the Kingdom of God on earth. I Corinthians 4:20-21 says that "the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power." This means that the kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit. This is further confirmed by Romans 14:17, which says that "the kingdom of God...is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." So therefore, kingdom of God = power = Holy Spirit.

Love
I John 4:8 tells us that "Love is from God," and that "God is love." This is speaking of God the Father. If it were Jesus or the Holy Spirit, then John would have delineated between the three. There are countless scriptures that speak of God's love for us, the most famous is John 3:16, when God the Father gave His Son: "For God so love the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." But it's so important to remember that it's not only an action the Father shows toward us, but it's who He is. He embodies love. The Father = love.

A Sound Mind
The Greek word used in 2 Timothy for sound mind is sōphronismos. This word means an admonishing or calling to soundness of mind, to moderation and self-control (Strong's). So some translations say "self-control" instead of a sound mind. But let's look at the word sōphronismos a little more deeply. It's a compound word--which is two words put together to make one word. The first part of the Greek word is from sodzo, which means to be delivered or saved. The second part of the word is from phroneo, which refers to a person’s mind, logical thinking, will and emotions. What is our soul comprised of, but our mind, will and emotions. So the word sōphronismos literally means "to save my soul!" Who is the One who came to save my soul? Jesus. A sound mind = Jesus.

The Trinity
So back to 2 Timothy 1:7. We are told that "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind." When we apply logic to this statement, it tells us that God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but He gave us the Holy Spirit, the Father and Jesus. When I think about this scripture and the deeper meaning of what God is telling us, it ignites a passion in me that can't be contained. God speaks to us so much more deeply than just the mere words on the page. I am continually in awe of how magnificent and glorious, imaginative and omniscient our God truly is!

Forgiveness

One of the hardest things Jesus ever asked us to do was to forgive those who have hurt us. In our minds, we say, "He hurt me, so he should feel the same pain I am feeling right now." In our human capacity of thinking and feeling, vengeance only seems natural. However, that's not what Jesus did, and that's not grace.

When our enemies hurt us, I feel it is slightly easier to forgive. We expect our enemies to hurt us--we don't like one another, so it stands to reason that we would hurt one another. The need for vengeance is still there, but we can allow ourselves to forgive them just a little bit easier. What's much more difficult is when those whom we love hurt us. We expect so much more from the ones we love. They have given us unspoken promises just by saying the words, "I love you." Inherent in those three little words are so much more: "I will protect you," "I will be faithful to you," "I will think about your needs above my own." When we truly love someone, their hurt is our hurt.

Sometimes when we are aggrieved by those we love, it's completely unintentional. When our loved ones hurt us unintentionally, it's much easier to forgive. In addition, their level of contrition has a direct correlation with our ability to forgive quickly. To take it even a step further, when our loved ones hurt us unintentionally, we sometimes need to examine ourselves--our expectations, our demands, our attitudes--to see if what they said or did should have even hurt us in the first place.

Mikayla made a flippant comment the other day about my weight--a sensitive topic for any woman. It cut to the quick, and emotion quickly rose to my eyes. I looked at her and asked how she could say something like that. Tears welled in her eyes as she realized that her comment was not funny, but hurtful. She immediately apologized and asked for forgiveness. Her brokenness at hurting me endeared her to me even more. It took .087 seconds to forgive her as she climbed into my lap, and I honestly don't even remember the words she said.

Mikayla's immediate compunction made it so easy to forgive her, especially since I knew she didn't mean to hurt me in the first place. But when our loved ones hurt us intentionally, that's when the sting of betrayal, disloyalty and dishonesty hits us the hardest. Sometimes it's not that our loved ones are hurting us on purpose, but the hurt is the unintentional consequences of their intentional actions.

For example, my college boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend, who was also my roommate at the time. I don't believe he really intentionally sought out my best friend in order to just hurt me. He intentionally sought her out, but because of his selfishness and lack of love for me, the unintended consequences of his behavior crushed me. Conversely, my ex-husband hurt me many times intentionally. Because of his own brokenness, hurts and need to be loved, he would intentionally say things he knew would deeply wound me. At times, he took great pleasure in causing me emotional pain.

Both of these hurts--intentional hurt and the unintentional consequences of intentional actions are the most difficult to forgive. Forgiveness means that you no longer hold that person responsible for what they did to you. It means that you can release them from their actions, and can no longer be hurt by these actions. Many times, we think we have forgiven, only to be reminded of what that person did. We are then confronted with the anger, hurt and frustration all over again. "I thought I had forgiven him?" we ask ourselves. I know I did. I still do. I know that I have forgiven my ex-boyfriend, as I no longer must see him or deal with him. My ex-husband, however, we must still co-parent our children. I am constantly reminded of the things he did or said. He continues to do and say horrific things to me; he slings accusations; he falsely attacks my character. I have to forgive him not only of those new sins against me, but all of the old hurts and wounds that those new accusations bring back to my mind.

In Matthew 18:21, Peter asks Jesus how many times we are supposed to forgive. Verse 22 says, "Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.'" That's just ridiculous. Do the math on that one--does Jesus literally mean we are supposed to forgive someone 490 times?

What I've learned over the past five years since my divorce is that forgiveness is a process. It's not a one-time occurrence--sometimes it might take 490 times to forgive someone for one offense. The Bible tells us that enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy. One of the easiest ways to destroy us is to keep us in bitterness and anger toward other people. Bitterness will eat away at our souls, and it will destroy us from the inside out. In Galatians 5:19-21, anger, discord and dissension are listed right beside sexual immorality, drunkenness and idolatry as sins that will cause lives to be destroyed and an inability to inherit the kingdom of God. Hebrews 12:14-15 tells us to "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many." This tells us that we have to be able to get rid of bitterness in order to see the Lord. That's some heavy stuff--I won't be able to be holy or see the Lord if I'm still bitter toward someone? That's a sure-fire way that the enemy can keep me from fulfilling my God-given purpose: keep me bitter.

I have forgiven my ex-husband, and I have to keep forgiving him every day. Every time that I am reminded of something he did or said to me, I have to forgive him all over again. Every time I forgive him for the same grievance, it gets easier and easier. I've probably maxed out that 490 Jesus commanded us to forgive. But I have to walk in forgiveness. I have to choose forgiveness. Every day.