{"id":32248,"date":"2012-03-23T21:45:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-24T02:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=32248"},"modified":"2021-02-18T21:47:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T03:47:56","slug":"how-can-we-do-better-at-studying-the-scriptures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-we-do-better-at-studying-the-scriptures\/","title":{"rendered":"How can we do better at studying the Scriptures?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Hi,<\/p>\n<p>First of all, I want to thank you for the many articles and sermons on your website. They have been very helpful and it is encouraging to have access to so much information regarding God&#8217;s word.<\/p>\n<p>I was recently talking to my girlfriend about becoming each other&#8217;s accountability partner for reading and studying Scripture. Other than studies with our congregations a couple of times a week, we have not done well in studying on a regular basis. We hope that by being accountable to one another we can change our neglectful habits and find more spiritual growth and immersion in God&#8217;s word. Do you have any suggestions on the direction and pace we should take with our studies? We have determined that we want to do a scriptural study as opposed to topical, but we are not sure in what book we should start and where to go from there. We are both in our early 20s and we have been Christians for several years. I would appreciate any suggestion you might have.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>The best diet plan is one that you will stick with for the rest of your life. The reason so many diets fail is that people pick a drastic diet that no one in their right mind would ever consider sticking with. Sure they lose weight for a while, but then the diet gets dropped and their weight comes right back up.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve seen people do the same thing with studying the Scriptures. They start out with the best intentions, but they pick something that isn&#8217;t sustainable. They might decide to read the Bible from cover to cover, but they run into the genealogies, or the Levitical laws, and reading rapidly becomes a chore. Or they try to get through a hard book, but the number of hours required is more than they can fit into their schedule. Eventually, something gives and it is usually the Bible study.<\/p>\n<p>What I rather see you two do is something that you find interesting and perhaps something you both want to learn. Don&#8217;t be afraid to jump around the Bible to places that interest you at the moment. Since you are both relatively new Christians, start by selecting a book and pick a day that you two are going to get together and discuss what you&#8217;ve learned and how you can make it a part of your lives. It doesn&#8217;t have to be a long session each time. In preparation for the discussion, try to read one chapter two or three times in advance.<\/p>\n<p>Try some of these books first:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>James: Practical Christian living.<\/li>\n<li>Ecclesiastes: What is the purpose of life? What life is about and not about?<\/li>\n<li>Luke: Get to know Jesus better<\/li>\n<li>Acts: How did early Christians live?<\/li>\n<li>Ruth: What is love like?<\/li>\n<li>John: The spiritual view of Jesus<\/li>\n<li>I John: How do you know you are saved?<\/li>\n<li>Genesis: Where did we come from?<\/li>\n<li>Proverbs: Practical everyday advice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you have trouble coming up with things to talk about, which I doubt, find a workbook to fill out together on that particular book.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Hi, First of all, I want to thank you for the many articles and sermons on your website. They have been very helpful and it is encouraging to have access to so much information regarding God&#8217;s word. I was recently talking to my girlfriend about becoming each other&#8217;s accountability partner for reading and studying&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[913,558],"class_list":["post-32248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-bible-study","tag-study"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51035,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-preacher-and-his-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":32248,"position":0},"title":"The Preacher and His Study","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 1, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hiram Kemp The preacher of God's Word is to speak with all the authority God has given him (Titus 2:15). He is to speak as the oracles of God (I Peter 4:11). He is to proclaim the gospel as the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16). However, all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27694,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-you-have-any-bible-studies\/","url_meta":{"origin":32248,"position":1},"title":"Would you have any Bible studies?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Would you have any Bible studies? I went to your site and I really found myself very safe there -- not like other sites, and you are right we are to feed the soul for that is our calling before anything physical, the spiritual comes first. I have a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26125,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-impressed-by-your-home-page\/","url_meta":{"origin":32248,"position":2},"title":"I&#8217;m impressed by your home page","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across\u00a0your home page\u00a0and took the time to read it. Well, I was impressed with what you had to say and just want to lift you up in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a shame there are not enough ministers (churches) that would stand on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52494,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-using-your-questions-and-answers-for-some-of-my-own-studies\/","url_meta":{"origin":32248,"position":3},"title":"I&#8217;m using your questions and answers for some of my own studies","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you, Jeff, for sharing your wonderful plethora of questions and answers for the world to see. It is obvious from the number of website hits that you have provided some valuable information from God's word in application to relevant questions today. There are so many questions that are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":65342,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/grandmothers-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":32248,"position":4},"title":"Grandmother&#8217;s Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by John Shafer One day, a mother told her daughter that she would be spending time at her grandmother's house. The little girl told her mother how excited she was, because of how great grandmother's Bible was. \"Why is it so great?\" her mother asked. The little girl told her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/worn-bible-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89423,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-to-personalize-your-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":32248,"position":5},"title":"How to Personalize Your Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson Perhaps you own a Bible with your name engraved in gold on the cover. Or maybe you received your Bible from a relative or friend who wrote a meaningful inscription to you on the flyleaf. Certainly, this makes your Bible more personal than those of the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}