Bible study that changes one’s life is not an intellectual exercise of finding verses and memorizing them. Simply finding truth is not the ultimate aim. Knowledge helps, but it does not change who we are. Can I share with you one approach I use as I read the Bible? The Bible uses the word “man” in so many places, and I often read a verse that has the word “man” in it and substitute the word “Dan” in its place.
For example, when I read that “…it is appointed unto man once to die,” I make it personal and read it again as, “…it is appointed unto Dan once to die.” Doing this helps me see how what God says applies in my daily life. Your name doesn’t have to rhyme, but let me encourage you to put your name in these verses.
I have struggled all my life with controlling my temper and anger. One verse that helps me is one that talks about a man’s anger. So, I read the verse that says, “The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (Jas. 1:20) and change it to speak of the wrath of Dan. That’s personal and that helps me change my life.
Now with this truth as a basis, look at how what the Bible says about anger and wrath becomes part of the process of trying to become like Jesus. The word “man” is not found in many of them, but I read them and think about how these verses apply to me. “A soft answer turns away wrath, but grievous words stir up strife” (Prov. 15:1). My name is not in this verse, but my life is. Look at how the ESV translates Proverbs 15:18. “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” As I read these words, I remember that the “…the wrath of Dan does not produce the righteousness of God.”
Look at it again. “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (Jas. 1:19). This is not the way I read it, for I read it, “Let every Dan be swift to hear…” That makes it personal. I know by experience that “…the tongue no ‘Dan’ can control” (Jas. 3:8, DJV), but I try to write what God has said about controlling anger on my heart, on my soul. I read them as if God is personally speaking to me. “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:31-32).
This article is not about me. It is written to encourage every reader to read the words of the Bible as though God is speaking directly to each one who reads. Make His instruction and admonitions personal. Bible study is not about reading. It is about writing His words on our hearts!
