Why Should We Read Our Bibles?

Have you ever noticed that the letters of Paul begin with “grace to you” and concludes with “grace be with you?”

Why is that?

Paul understood his writings as well as the rest of the inspired writings of the new testament to be conduits of God’s grace. If you read the Bible, grace is coming to you. Afterward, grace is now with you. So when you read God’s word you receive his grace!

But what is grace?

Generally, grace is often defined as “unmerited favor;” but the actual definition can be a little broader than that.

In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul laments about a thorn in his flesh so he prays for it to be removed. God responds, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Note the parallelism between grace and the power of God. Hence, Paul is empowered to endure in his suffering because God has given him grace. In the same way, grace is able to help us in our time of need.

If we take in God’s Word, we will receive the grace to overcome any difficulty that arises in our lives.

Here’s a list of seven ways that God’s Word gives us grace to overcome any difficulty that arises in our lives. My hope is that you will deeply desire to hear from when you read how God’s word gives us grace to overcome any difficulty.

First, are you plagued with doubts, fear, and anxiety? The Bible helps us defeat them by strengthening our faith.

Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” It is certainly true that this passage is claiming that initial faith in Christ comes from hearing the inspired word about Christ, but it is also true that much of the faith we need for day-to- day living comes from hearing messages from the Bible.

Second, do you desire to defeat the presence of sin in your life? The Bible helps us fight sin in our lives.

Jesus says in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.”

How does his Word make us holy?

We communion with Christ when we read His Word. Our communion with Christ strengthens our ability to resist the temptations that will please our flesh because we don’t want to hurt our friend and the lover of our souls.

Third, do you struggle with important and difficult decisions? The Bible helps us to make decisions according to his will so that he will bless us.

Are you seeking God’s will in choosing a spouse? Read Proverbs 19:14; 21:19; 31 and 1 Timothy 3:1–13.

Are you having conflict with your supervisor or are you a supervisor having conflict with your employees? Read Ephesians 6:5–9.

Are you having difficulty finding good friends? Read Proverbs 14:7; Proverbs 22:24; and 1 Corinthians 15:33.

There are so many passages in the Bible that help us with the difficult decisions of our lives.

Fourth, do you feel weak against the crafty schemes of the devil? The Bible helps us stand strong against his schemes.

John Piper sums this point up perfectly when he writes, “Scripture enables me to hit the devil in the face with a force he cannot resist, and so protect myself and my family from his assaults.”

Do you remember when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil? How did he shut the devil’s deceptive mouth? The Word of God!

The devil wants to steal our joy and create chaos in our lives and anxiety in our hearts by misleading us to believe his lies. So how do we counter his crafty schemes? The Word of God is our defense against the devil.

Fifth, how do you detect truth from error in a world filled with error since the god of this world is liar? The Bible helps us to detect error in a world filled with lies.

In 1 John 5:19 John says, “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”

The world is continuously sending us false messages. How do we detect what message from the internet or television is true and what is false? How do you detect what message from the advertisers at the mall are true and what are false? How do you detect what messages from the pulpit are true and what are false?

In Ephesians 6:14 Paul metaphorically speaks of the word of God as a belt of truth that helps us understand what is reliable and trustworthy as compared to what is false. It’s only through the Word of God that we can discern truth from error.

Sixth, have you ever wanted to encourage someone when they are hurting or discouraged? The Bible is powerful enough to revive the soul!

David says in Psalm 19, “The law of the lord is perfect, reviving the soul… the precepts of the lord are right, rejoicing the heart.”

Is there anything more encouraging than the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God! You can rocket up a suffering person’s heart with the word of God! God’s word restores a person’s hope!

Seventh, have you ever felt dissatisfied or discontent? The Bible helps us to grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ so that the cravings of our soul may be satisfied.

Jesus says in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Jesus recognizes that our souls are desire factories. This is why people feed their souls with pornography, beer, pizza, careers, movies, and vacations. And yet those things never satisfy.

Now there’s nothing wrong with pizza or movies or vacation! My point is that these things never satisfy our hearts desires. They never leave us feeling completely content. Rather some of them often leave us feeling guilty!

Jesus says that his presence in your life can satisfy your soul’s desire. So we read our Bibles because we encounter Jesus within them.

Now these are just seven ways reading the Bible will help us receive the grace of God to overcome any difficulty we face in our lives; I’m sure there are many more.

But how do we read the Bible in order to receive this grace? Continue on to “How Should We Read the Bible” for that answer.

Written by Joe Gordon, Executive Pastor of Ministries at LifePoint Church.