Hi there,
I hope you have been well? Today’s post will be about how to study the Bible.
In the series “Back to the basics” I want to encourage you to not forget the fundamentals of Christianity. Refreshing and or learning how to walk in faith. The main pillar in the Christian faith is God’s word. Even though listening to messages and going to church and hearing the word there is a good way to grow your faith, it most definitely isn’t enough. Knowing how to study the word and meditating on it dailyt is still one of the best ways to grow deeper and become more grounded in your faith.
Only listening to the word once or twice a week won’t help you build up the strength to go through life. Living on a church high alone won’t help you to become more like Jesus from monday to friday.
What is studying the Bible
Studying the Bible is learning how to interpret the Word of God. In order to do this effectively, we have to know what the original language was and understand its context. We then need to apply critical thinking to help us make sense of things and figure out which parts of scripture to believe and which parts to discard. Studying the Bible is finding truth, not just reading it.
How does studying the Bible differ from reading about the Bible
The Bible is literally hundreds of thousands of pages long. Most people read only the beginning and end of the New Testament since they were written first. But the Old Testament is just as informative and relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. Since the Bible is a compilation of diverse writings, we cannot simply look at a single verse and say “this means this”. In fact, we should never assume anything if we don’t know the rest of the story. The Bible is meant to be studied and interpreted together, not separately.
Why do I need to study the Bible?
In order to live a productive life, we have to learn how to think critically. Being able to analyze and interpret situations is a powerful skill that can change our lives for the better. Learning how to read the Bible allows us to improve ourselves since it provides insight into who God really is, how He created us and who we are and how he wants us to live.
The Bible has a lot of topics that in this day and age we still have to deal with them. By reading it you can learn how to love properly, how to deal with anger, regret, fear, confidence, pride, work, studies and a lot more! By studying a topic per season that you’re in, you’ll be less anxious and have more understanding of life.
How to study the Bible?
There are various ways to study the bible. One of the ways is to use a Bible study guide.
A Bible study guide is simply a series of lessons or studies focused on a particular topic in the bible. There are many different types of bible study guides, including topical, thematic, historical, and doctrinal. A topical study focuses on a specific book or section of scripture, while thematic studies focus on the overarching theme of each book. Historical studies attempt to uncover how events in the Bible may relate to current events, and doctrinal studies deal with how those events may affect our view of God and his relationship with humanity.
What makes a good Bible study guide?
A good Bible study guide answers these questions:
- Who wrote this book?
- Where did this book come from?
- When was it written?
- What inspired this book?
- Were any of the writers influenced by others?
Another way to study the Bible is by topic.
When you’re going through a certain thing in life or if you have questions about a certain topic, you can search (usually at the back of your bible), you will find a list of topics and verses surrounding those topics.
Another way to study the Bible is by using the SOAP-method. Personally I used this method when I first started to study the Bible and trying to make it a weekly practice.
Scripture: you choose a part of scripture that you’re going to focus on
Observation: you read the scripture and ask yourself: what does it mean? Why is this here? when was this written? By whom was this written?
Application: you ask yourself how can I apply this scripture to my own life?
Prayer: You pray over the scripture and for guidance.
I hope you enjoyed this post on how to study the bible, let me know in which way you study the Bible in the cmments bellow!
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Big love,
Joy
