The goal of Bible study is not:
- To succeed in Bible trivia games
- To discover a doctrine or truth nobody knows
- To use for wall décor, mugs, or as your life verse
- To find a verse to justify our own thinking
- To create good sermons
The goal of Bible study is to set our minds right.
Our minds do not naturally have the truth, know what is right, or think with the mind of Christ.
The Bible gives us the truth of God, the mind of Christ, and instruction in righteousness.
To set our minds right requires a change of mind (also known as repentance).
Without constant realignment, our minds are prone to all sorts of deceptions, distractions, and wandering. When our minds wander, then our life wanders. The Bible gives spiritual understanding and the will of God (Col 1:9).
When our thoughts are wrong, the Bible gives us correction and right things to think (Phi 4:8).
When our perspective is wrong, we are told to set our affections on things above and to look at the things that are not seen and eternal (Col 3:2; 2 Cor 4:18).
When we think we can stand on our own, the Bible shows our need for God’s grace, the Lord Jesus Christ, and warns us about such dizzy thinking that causes us to fall (1 Cor 10:12).
Our minds are out of line. We prioritize the wrong things. We desire the wrong things. We pursue the wrong things. We think on the wrong things.
The word of truth aligns the mind with truth.
The word of God aligns the mind with God.
The word of Christ aligns the mind with Christ.
The goal of Bible study is to set our minds right.
For your edification,
Justin “daily spiritual realignment” Johnson