WHY STUDY THE BIBLE?
By M. L. Martini
God desires that we study His word (Is. 34:16; Jer.
22:29; Deut. 31:10-12; Matt. 12:3, 19:4; Mk. 12:10,
26; Lu. 4:16; Eph. 3:3-4; 1 Thess. 5:27)
To show ourselves approved of God (2 Tim 2:15)
To know God better (Matt. 22:32; Deut. 33:27; Ex.
3:14, 34:6, 7, 14; Ps. 96:10, 13; Is. 40:26, 57:15; 2
Sam. 7:22; Rom. 11:33-34; 1 Jn. 4:8, 16; Mk. 1:9-11)
Because we love God and His Word (Ps. 119:159; Deut. 10:12-13, 11:1; 1 Jn. 4:7, 17, 19)
To discover what God wants us to do to spend eternity with Him (Rev. 2:10; John 3:36{NAS}; Rom. 10:10; Jn. 8:24; Matt. 21-28-31; Acts 3:19; Mk. 16:16; Gal. 3:27)
So God can increase the harvest of our righteousness (2 Cor. 9:10)
To acquire faith (Rom. 10:17)
To know how to live productive, useful lives (Mic.
6:8; Matt. 5:13-16; 2 Pet. 1:3-4; Phil. 2:14; Lu.
2:49, 9:23; Rom. 12:1-2; Col. 4:6; 2 Cor. 3:2-3; 1
Chron. 29:5; Is. 55:11).
To perfect the beauty of holiness (1 Chron. 16:29; 2
Chron. 20:21; Ps 29:2, 96:9, 110:3; Eze. 28:12)
To find out the best ways to deal with people (Rom.
12:9-21; Mk. 12:31; James 1:27; Gal. 6:1-2; Heb.
10:24-25, 12:14, 13:1-3; Eph. 4:16, 23-32; Phil. 2:4;
1 Pet. 1:22)
To enable us to cope with life (1 Cor. 10:13; Heb.
13:5-6; 2 Cor. 3:5; Ps. 18:1-3, 62:8; Jn. 15:11)
To help successfully raise children (Eph. 6:1-4; Ex.
20:12, 21:17; Deut. 6; Col. 3:20-21; Prov. 1:8, 2:1-2,
6; 3:1-2, 7, 8:32-35; 13:24, 19:18, 22:6, 23:13-14;
Gen. 18:19; 2 Tim. 3:15)
To ascertain right from wrong (1 Thess. 5:21; 1 Jn.
4:1; Heb. 5:12-14)
To understand what real happiness is (Matt. 5:3-12)
To appreciate how to value and respect all people (Mk. 3:35; Gal. 2:6-15; Jas. 2:1-10)
To be able to emulate the Master Teacher (Mk. 1:22) so we can teach others (Mat. 4:19, 28:18-20; Lu. 19:10; 2 Tim. 2:2)
To learn from the successes of others (Ps. 1:1-3;
Joshua 1:6-9; Syrophencian woman Mk. 7:24-30; Abigail 1 Sam. 25; poor widow Mk. 12:41-44; woman of Proverbs 31)
To analyze the failures of others to hopefully avoid
similar consequences (2 Pet. 2:1-3; Herodias and her daughter Mk. 6:14-29; Jezebel 1 Kin. 21:25, 2 Kin. 9:30-37; Lot's wife Gen. 19:1-29; woman in Proverbs 7)
To follow Christ's example (1 Pet. 2:21-23; John
13:1-17; Mk. 1:41, 7:37, 10:45; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 Cor.
11:1)
To allow God to talk to us (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Rom.
15:4; Heb. 1:1,2; Lu. 8:4-15, 18; Ps. 12:6; Mk. 13:31;
Rev. 21:5)
To gain knowledge of how to talk to God (Jn 17; Lu.
11:2-4; Eph. 5:20; 1 Thess. 5:17-18; Phil. 4:6-7; 1
Jn. 1:9, 3:22; Matt. 7:7; 1 Tim. 2:1-3; Jas. 4:3; Jn.
14:13)
To build us up spiritually (1 Pet. 2:2; Acts 20:32)
To give us a proper perspective on life (Phil. 4:4-9;
Prov. 3:5-6; Matt. 6:19-34; Eph. 5:15-17; Jas.
4:14-17)
To increase our love, respect and awe for God (Mk.
12:30; Heb. 12:28, 13:15; 2 Pet. 3:18; Ps.19; Jude
24-25)
To give us a reason for living (1 Pet. 4:11, 16; Rev.
4:11; Ps. 51:15; Isa. 43:7; Matt. 5:16; 1 Cor.
6:19-20)
To comprehend the punishment for disobedience (Matt. 10:28, 13:41-42, 25:41; Lu. 16:19-31; 2 Thess. 1:7-9; Jude 7; Rev. 21:8)
To recognize that God's word is to be treasured more than food (Job 23:12)
A blessing is placed on those who read God's word and obey it (Rev. 1:3; Lu. 11:28; Jas. 1:22-25)
This is just a starter list. I'd like to encourage
each of you to augment this list with more reasons and scriptures. Challenge your children to make their own lists. How thankful we should be that we have a pearl of such great value. May we treasure it enough to search it daily!