Letting Deep Feeling Follow Accurate Thinking
Women in particular sometimes approach their time in Scripture looking to receive some sort of emotional dose of something from it. That’s not necessarily wrong, but sometimes it’s a little out of order.
When you spend time in the Bible . . . you’re going to have deep and real emotions that result from contact with the text.
I would argue that when you spend time in the Bible, thinking about what it’s saying, you’re going to have deep and real emotions that result from contact with the text. But they’re going to be informed by what the text is communicating. If you have actually come at the Scriptures at a thoughtful level, there’s going to be a smaller chance that you are going to pull something out of context.
There are plenty of ways to have an emotional response to Scripture. Yet we only want to have an emotional response to Scripture that’s grounded in the meaning that was intended by its original author, and therefore, by the Holy Spirit.
A popular Bible teacher offers practical guidance and helpful tips for women who want to go deeper in their study of the Bible and learn how to teach others to do the same.
Bible study should move us deeply, but it should move us so far as we learning to think rightly about God, and ourselves in relation to him. And that’s the way Bible study transforms us.
Article originally appeared on Crossway.org. Used with permission.