Stop Doing THIS One Thing When Reading Your Bible

Have you ever finished reading your Bible and thought, “Okay… but what was I supposed to get out of that?”

Maybe part of the problem is that we’ve been approaching Scripture with ourselves at the center.

In this episode of The True North Podcast, we’re talking about how to read and study the Bible without making yourself the main character. Because while the Bible was written for you, not every passage was written about you. Scripture is ultimately the story of God—who He is, what He has done, and His plan to redeem and restore humanity through Jesus Christ.

We’ll look at familiar passages like David and Goliath and Jeremiah 29:11 to see how easy it is to pull Scripture out of context and immediately ask, “What does this mean for me?” Instead, we’ll learn to start with a better question: “What does this show me about God?”

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why Christians can accidentally make themselves the main character of the Bible
• The difference between biblical interpretation and application
• Why context matters when studying Scripture
• How to understand who a passage was originally written to
• The Bible’s overarching story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration
• What David and Goliath actually teaches us beyond “defeating your giants”
• The deeper context behind Jeremiah 29:11
• A simple Bible study method you can use during your quiet time
• How Scripture reveals the character of God
• Why knowing God should come before asking what we can get from Him
• How to confidently apply the Bible to your everyday life

A Simple Bible Study Framework

Before asking, “What does this verse mean for me?” try asking:

1. What does it say? What is literally happening in this passage?

2. What does it mean? Who wrote it? Who were they writing to? What was happening historically and culturally? What comes before and after this passage?

3. What does this show me about God? Look for His character, commands, promises, holiness, grace, faithfulness, mercy, and redemptive work.

4. How should I respond? Only after understanding the passage should we bring ourselves into the conversation. What needs to change in my heart, thinking, or actions because of what I've learned?

My favorite commentary to use while studying scripture: Enduring Word

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