July 22, 2019
Weekly Reflection – Effective Bible Study
Having Effective Bible Study Can Be Difficult
Are you struggling to have effective Bible study? How do you judge the effectiveness of your personal Bible study? Well, I can think of several ways to go about determining this. For example, you might measure how many verses you have memorized. Can you more adequately explain the story of Jesus? What does the Bible say about (you name it). What steps to salvation are laid out in the book of Acts?
It seems to me that the most robust metric for measuring the effectiveness of a personal study of the scriptures is the extent to which that study causes us to change for the better. Think of what Bible study you did last week. Now, how is your life different today because of that study? Are you more loving? Has your relationship with God, your family, and the world around you been impacted? If not, why not?
A preacher friend of mine commented this weekend that he knows Christians who have studied the Bible for decades but who are still “mean as can be.” I do not want to be described in that manner. Do you?
Faith, Hope, Love
This may be stretching it a bit, but the Apostle Paul could have been thinking along these lines when he wrote I Corinthians 13. “Now faith, hope and love these three; but the greatest of these is love.” It seems that faith comes from love more than vice versa. In short, love (a relationship) trumps faith.
How does one love God? You find the answer in “Love your neighbor.” It may be the only necessary thing. One may spend a lifetime learning the content and nuances of the Bible, but if the person is not transformed into a new creation (Galatians 6:14-18) and from the tyranny of sin in daily behavior, it amounts to little.
Yes, it is essential that we learn the content and instructions of the Bible. But it is more important to change from our old man to the new creature. How are you doing?
Blessings and peace,
Chaplain Allen
chaplain@nationsu.edu
chaplainscorner.org
Read more reflections, Walking Among the Deadwood