The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy that “All scripture is breathed out by God…” Well good news! God, the creator of the universe and everything in it, has a book its a bestseller and its available in every language you can think of. So if the creator of humans has a book on how to live a great life… shouldn’t we be trying to understand everything about it? Let’s look at five things you can do to help learn and understand the Bible better.
There’s no better guide to living a Christian life than reading the Bible but it requires actually understanding what you’re reading and applying it to reap all the benefits. Proverbs 2:6 says, “for the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and understanding…”
We’ve all probably had a moment in school when we were reading our lesson and putting enough effort in to it to commit things to memory just long enough to pass the test. This practice is not a good idea for approaching the Bible because we need a deep understanding of the examples, the instructions, the laws, the behaviors, the people, the culture and it’s the best way for us to get to know Jesus. This is bigger than studying for a test. This is eternity! This is a chance for us to gain more wisdom and apply it to our life in a way where we can avoid mistakes, love other people better and follow our Creator’s instructions which lead to a relationship with Jesus and more peace. Let’s face it… we could all use a little more peace in our life.
Proverbs 1:7 says, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, fools despise wisdom and instruction…” So basically the key is to not be a fool. I have five things that you can do to improve your Bible Understanding.
The first thing you can do to understand the Bible better is acknowledge it’s God’s word and how much you really need it. Adopt an honest desire to understand it and get to know Jesus better. Figure out how to move from your head from knowing that you should be reading and understanding the Bible to your heart passionately desiring to know more. Not sure how to make that change? Ask Jesus! This is a great prayer request for your next conversation with Him because you’re going to need his power and grace to get there.
The second thing: determine what you want to read. Are you going to go for it and start with Genesis and end in Revelation? Or are you going to start with the New Testament? Maybe pick certain books or certain authors of books or do a devotional or a study. Devotionals and studies written by Christian authors are great supplements to learning and understanding the Bible but the Bible as the source of your information is best. You can find the right balance between all of those resources but whatever you decide, be sure to have a plan. Declare when and how you’re going to read it. Listen to the podcast about reading if you need some help on setting up a good reading system or visit www.goodnewsatwork.com/read.
Third thing: taking notes or journaling about what you’re learning. Write down what you’re thinking about or examples of how you’ve seen this situation play out in your life as it relates to what you’re reading. One thing I do during my morning routine of reading the Bible is try and write a tweet; a short sentence about what I just read. I jot down a lesson I took from it. Something that maybe I felt convicted to take action on or sometimes I just need to realign my thinking about something. This causes me to pause just for a few minutes and think of an application to write down. I can review what I wrote later which just reinforces the learning.
The fourth thing: You’ve heard this one on my other podcast but it holds true with this one too. You need to be in a small group! Discussing what you’re reading is a great way to learn. Being with other people in a small group creates a safe place for you to ask questions and gain a better understanding through discussion. So many times I have experienced learning from other people’s life experiences in ways that I would never have been able to learn by myself. When they describe how the scripture applied to their situation in life, my light bulb will just go off! We don’t all share the same life experiences to be able to apply what we are reading in the same way.
When I was single, the lessons I was hearing about marriage didn’t mean what they mean to me now. Someone else telling me about their marriage experience helped me understand until I was married and could experience things with that kind of life experience. I can intellectually read and understand the messages in the Bible but when you can apply it to life right now… that is where God’s power happens. Your understanding will increase immensely when you see it applied through someone else’s eyes.
The fifth and final thing: memorize verses. For anyone who grew up in the church, this has been a lesson probably since day one. Memorizing scripture is still one of the best things you can do to learn and understand the Bible. Start by picking a verse that you need to remember right now because of something happening in your life. Once you have it in your memory you can pick a new verse and so on. Make a goal to memorize scripture for the year or the next few months.
To kickstart your memorization efforts, we have a fun exercise for you. Visit our 7-Day Challenge Page to learn more and sign up for a free 7-Day challenge. Our community is going to be memorizing Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Sign up and you’ll get a plan to help you memorize this verse. It is exciting because you’re going to be putting God’s word in your memory bank but it’s fun because it involves downloadable games, email reminders and a video quiz to help you practice. Memorizing verses is a powerful tool to combat the enemy by being able to recall scripture at any time.
