The Right Way to Read the Bible

For the longest time, I thought that I had to have all the answers. I felt that in order to be a good pastor, or even just a good Christian, I had to know everything there was to know about the Bible. This false belief dramatically impacted the way that I approached the Bible. 

It also impacted the way that I interacted with other people. When in conversations about the Bible or other spiritual matters, I felt a constant need to prove that I was right, and regardless of what others were saying, that they were wrong. This hindered my ability to love people because I viewed conversations as an argument to win, rather than an opportunity to love and serve. But I digress… 

The way my belief impacted my engagement with the Bible was that I read the Bible primarily to get information and beef up my spiritual arsenal. Essentially, I was trying to “master the Bible.” I attempted to read the Bible through from cover to cover at least once if not twice a year. I worked on committing entire books of the Bible to memory. I read books about the Bible to deepen my understanding of the Scriptures. 

Now, let me just say, none of those things are bad or wrong. In fact, they are all good, very good to be exact. However, it was my mindset and motivation that were off. The longer that I am a pastor or just a Christian for that matter, and the more I read and know about the Bible, the more I realize how much I don’t know. 

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 8, “We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up” (v1). Because my motivation in reading the Bible was all about knowing all the answers, my engagement with the Bible actually hindered the development of my ability to love instead of increasing it.

It wasn’t until after I damaged multiple relationships and was humbled through conversations in which I projected that I knew more than I actually did that I realized I needed to change my approach in how I read the Bible.

I had a friend once tell me, “Instead of trying to master the Bible, maybe you should allow yourself to be mastered by it.”

As soon as he said those words, I knew he was one hundred percent correct. For years, I had missed the whole point of the Scriptures. Jesus said to a group of Pharisees in John 5, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have  eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (v39-40).

The Scriptures are intended to bring us closer to Jesus. If that isn’t our ultimate aim, if it’s merely about more knowledge, the ability to win arguments, or to prove ourselves to be the smartest person in the room, we will miss the point entirely.

The way that we are mastered by the Scriptures is by submitting ourselves to Jesus. He is the Word become flesh. So when you read, allow Him to be the one to show you what it looks like to lead a life of love.