There are numerous reasons to study the Bible for yourself. You may not realize it, but the word of God is alive and active, and able to transform your entire life. But those transformative truths often take a bit of digging to discover.
While we should be hearing sound doctrine from the pulpit weekly, our pastor shouldn’t be our sole source of sustenance from the Bible. We must seek the Lord in the scriptures ourselves!
The Bible renews our minds, restores our hope, and refreshes our souls. We need to get a daily dose of doctrine to strengthen our spirit.
Instead of relying on someone else to spoon-feed us the scriptures, we must study the Bible for ourselves for spiritual growth, stability, and maturity.
“A Bible that’s falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn’t.” ~ Charles Spurgeon
3 Reasons to Study the Bible for Yourself
- For spiritual growth.
- For spiritual stability.
- For spiritual maturity.
Reason to Study the Bible #1- Spiritual Growth
Spiritual growth is the process by which God makes us more like Jesus Christ. The Lord uses His word to correct us and change us. We go from carnality to Christlikeness the more we learn and apply God’s word.
Spiritual growth is an important reason to study the Bible. It helps us to know the truth, live out the truth, and invest the truth in others.
When we study the Bible, we take an active role in growing in our faith, character, and ministry.
2 Timothy 2:15 KJV – Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Reason to Study the Bible #2- Spiritual Stability
If we don’t know what the Bible says about who God is, and what He can do, we’ll have shallow faith that won’t withstand the test of time or trials. We will make emotionally driven decisions, instead of using biblical discernment.
When we don’t study the Bible for ourselves, we will be tossed about by every wind of doctrine, easily deceived, and doubt-ridden. But when we study the Bible, it becomes an anchor for our souls and gives us spiritual stability.
Ephesians 4:14 KJV – That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
For more on spiritual stability: 3 Short Prayers for Spiritual Stability in an Unstable World
Reason to Study the Bible #3- Spiritual Maturity
We cannot obtain spiritual maturity if we forsake the studying of the scriptures. If we want to grow into spiritually mature Christians, who are examples to other believers, we absolutely must learn how to study the Bible, apply it to our lives, and share it with others.
The more we study the Bible, the more we know God, and the more we know Him, the more we love Him and are more like Him. The world desperately needs mature Christians who behave like Jesus!
Hebrews 5:12-14 KJV – For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
A Prayer to Help You Study the Bible
Prayer is an essential element of personal Bible study. We need His Spirit to enlighten our minds and reveal the truth to us in His word. Prayer helps us voice our dependence on God.
I begin my study time in God’s word with a short and simple prayer for wisdom.
Father in heaven, thank you for your amazing grace. You have revealed yourself to us within the pages of scripture and given your mind on every issue of life. I pray you would open my eyes to behold wondrous things in your word. Order my steps in your word and don’t let any iniquity have dominion over me. Help me to see your character and know you more intimately, so that I can have a closer relationship with you and properly portray you to those around me. I love you Lord, and I ask for wisdom and understanding as I read your word. It is in the matchless and mighty name of Christ, my King, I pray. Amen.
Tips for Bible Study for Beginners
You may have a desire to learn the Bible, but don’t know where to start. There are a ton of great options out there to teach you how to study the Bible. Here are some of my favorite resources and tips for Bible study for beginners.
Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin
I love this book on Bible study by Jen Wilkin. She is a passionate advocate for biblical literacy and makes studying the Bible straightforward and simple. Here are some of my favorite quotes from Women of the Word:
“We must make a study of our God: what he loves, what he hates, how he speaks and acts. We cannot imitate a God whose features and habits we have never learned. We must make a study of him if we want to become like him. We must seek his face.”
“A well-rounded approach to Bible study recognizes that the Bible is always more concerned with the decision-maker than with the decision itself. Its aim is to change our hearts so that we desire what God desires, rather than to spoon-feed us answers to every decision in life.”
“Both the false teacher and the secular humanist rely on biblical ignorance for their message to take root, and the modern church has proven fertile ground for those messages. Because we do not know our bibles, we crumble at the most basic challenges to our worldview.”
~ Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word, How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds
Personal Bible Study Tools
Along with Women of the Word, I highly recommend using a Bible study tool like Blue Letter Bible. I use it daily for things like word studies, finding cross-references, and looking into the cultural background of the text.
I also suggest using Halley’s Bible Dictionary, to get overviews of each book of the Bible, with insights into the culture of the times.
My Articles on Personal Bible Study:
I’ve written several articles on the importance of Bible Study and how to go about studying the Bible for yourself. Here are links to those posts:
Bible Study for Busy Women~ 20 Minute Word Study
How to Study the Bible in 7 Simple Steps
3 Study Tips to Sweeten Bitter Scriptures: Dealing with difficult bible verses
3 Questions to Ask When Studying the Bible
10 Simple Steps to do a Bible Word Study
Study the Bible Today
I hope these reasons to study the Bible have convinced you to explore the Word and find precious treasures for your spiritual growth, stability, and maturity. If you have questions about the Bible or how to study it, I would be glad to help you! Just drop a comment below, or click the ‘contact me’ tab.
“So the real question confronting you now is: How can you afford not to be in God’s Word?” ~ Howard Hendricks
FREE How to Study the Bible Guide
I have a page on my website devoted to free resources for spiritual growth. It contains a “How to Study the Bible” handbook. It is a 17-page guide with step-by-step instructions, study sheets, study guidelines, and more! If you would like to dig deeper into the Bible for yourself, then this free resource is for you!
I have also included other bible study worksheets, beautiful graphics, printables (like scriptures for a sober mind), bookmarks, and more.
To tap into all the goodies, just enter your email address in the “subscribe” section of this page. When you do that, you will get a confirmation email with the password to my Resource Library. Then you will also receive my blog posts in your email inbox as well.
Already subscribed to Daily His Disciple? Just email me and I will send you the link and password!
Get a “My Jesus Journal” to Help You Study the Bible
I designed a tool to help Christian women know Jesus more intimately as they read and study the Bible.
My Jesus Journal focuses your time in the Word on learning more about the Lord and cultivating a closer relationship with Christ.
Intended to be used alongside your daily Bible reading, My Jesus Journal has space to record the date, the scriptures you read, and lined spaces to write your observations about Jesus you saw in the text. The bottom of that page has a verse from the KJV Bible about Jesus. The next page has space to write prayers related to what you discovered in your reading. There are also extra prayer pages in the back of the book.
Mark 12:30 tells us to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but we cannot love someone we do not know. The more time we spend intentionally seeking Jesus in the pages of scripture, the more we will know Him and love Him.
My Jesus Journal aids us in our quest to learn, love, and know Jesus more deeply.
Beautiful, portable, and affordable!
If you are looking for help to grow in your knowledge of Jesus, build intimacy in your relationship with Him, and deepen your love for the Lord, then My Jesus Journal is just what you need!
Beautifully designed with your spiritual growth in mind, I perfectly sized My Jesus Journal to fit into your purse, backpack, or diaper bag. You can grow on the go when you use wait times in the Doctor’s office, the carpool line, etc. for Bible study.
My Jesus Journal is extremely affordable, so you can purchase just one for yourself, or consider buying one for your entire ministry, to begin a season of seeking Jesus together. It makes an excellent gift for any Christian woman in your life!
CLICK HERE TO ORDER MY JESUS JOURNAL TODAY!
Pray With Confidence
Prayer is an essential element of personal Bible study. If you desire a stronger prayer life, check out Pray With Confidence. It’s a website for helping women overcome prayer obstacles, and I am one of the regular contributors. Here are some links I think will be a blessing to you:
63 Insightful Bible Verses About Grace
Check out the prayer resources, Bible verses, and tough questions tabs as well. There are many great options for your spiritual growth!