4 Mentalities Around Reading God’s Word

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 
 
Reading the Word of God is something we all need to be making a priority as followers of Jesus. God uses His Word to speak to us, to teach us, to guide us, and to give us wisdom. Like we said yesterday, we are in a battle, and in order to be prepared for that battle, we need to be spending time each day in God’s Word.  
 
With that in mind, I believe it’s important that we have four mentalities when it comes to reading Scripture. So today, I want us to look at each of these mentalities and how we can begin to implement them in our own personal time with the Lord.  
 
1. I am doing this to learn.  
We should be reading the Word of God in order to learn. God does not want you to be ignorant. He wants you to know what He desires you to do. He wants you to know how to live, and He wants you to know His will. Therefore, when you read the Word of God, you are doing so in order to learn. 
 
2. I am doing this to know the truth. 
When we study the Word of God, we are not just learning factoids, but we are learning the truth – truth that will save us, truth that will change us, and truth that will empower us. You and I are to use the Word of God as the standard of measurement in our lives. In other words, the Word of God is useful for rebuking and correcting yourself and others. So if we want to know the truth we need to measure ourselves against, we have to read the Word of God. 
 
3. I am doing this to apply it to my life.  
We also need to have the mentality that says, I am doing this to apply God’s Word to my life. In other words, I am not just reading stories in Scripture just to say I read them. I am not just learning God’s Word and coming to know the truth of Scripture. I am learning the Scripture in order to apply it to my life. This is why today’s key passage ends with “… so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” It’s not enough to just know Scripture. We have to go a step further and apply it to the way we live.  
 
4. I am doing this systematically. 
Finally, we need to have the mentality around reading Scripture that says, “I am doing this systematically.” If you are studying the Word of God, you need to have a plan. There should be a plan in place in your life and my life when it comes to Scripture reading so that we may be trained and prepared for all that lies ahead of us. This could be studying a certain book of the Bible, reading a Psalm or Proverb a day, or going through a guided topical study. Whatever it is, just make sure you have a plan and a system in place so you remain diligent and intentional with the time you spend in the Word.