We read in Holy Scripture: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things which I say?” (Luke 6: 46). In life, it must be stated, that all those that know what they should do, and fail to do so, have done so to their own destruction. To know wisdom, but then to ignore that wisdom, for whatever reason or because of weakness, is foolish. It might be, though, that part of the problem, for many people, is that despite their knowing what they should do, they aren’t able to actually demonstrate the strength of character so as to do it; but they don’t seem to realize that until they do what they should do, they will continue to have to face this same test, over and over again, until they do what they have to do.
It is always disappointing for any good teacher, when one’s students, hear the message, and seemingly understand the message, but aren’t able to fulfill the message in action. This so signifies that when the students fail the teacher, and there comes that time when the teacher subsequently dies, then what has so been taught, though known, has sadly not been applied; which thereby means it has not provided the benefit it was designed to bring. So too, those that claim that they fully respect someone, of which, that is belied by their poor actions so made; have then, in reality, not been respectful.
Not everything that we should and ought to do, is going to be easy. In fact, the road ahead may be very, very tough, but that road must be traveled, in order to successfully accomplish those tasks which should and ought to be done. In such, we find, that there are those, of little or no character, who thereupon simply just give up, despite knowing what they are supposed to do. Others though, may give it a go, so to speak, but at the first sign of trouble, also give it up, relatively easily. So too, there are those others, that put forth a real effort, but after suffering defeat or troubles, time and time again, eventually call it a day. Finally, there are those few, who are true to their calling, and no matter how long and arduous the road may be, they keep their eyes focused upon the prize, and will not relent upon their mission, until they successfully reach their destination.
The whole purpose of learning anything of merit, is to apply that knowledge for the expressed benefit of humankind. Those that don’t do that, or misapply such, have clearly taken the wrong path. So too, those so selected to listen to “special or secret teaching” or wisdom of that sort, and then fail to live up to what is expected of them, reflect poorly on their teacher, for this signifies that the teacher apparently was not prescient in the selection of those so selected for their teaching. This is why any good teacher, must hold their students accountable; for the object of the exercise is to make this world a better place, and knowledge unapplied is not all that dissimilar from ignorance, for neither provides the benefit, so necessary for humankind’s good evolvement.