How has the Bible shaped you?
That’s not to be a guilt-inducing question, but rather a “How does this work?” question.
The amassing of biblical information, while necessary, does not get us closer to God. Bible smarts alone won’t make me more Christ-like. It’s what I do with the information—or more accurately what the information does to me—that enables God’s Word to shape me spiritually.
How can I ensure that my time spent in God’s Word actually is shaping me and not simply fulfilling my task-oriented brain?
We could devote months to the subject of the Bible and spiritual formation, so this short column presents something akin to a quick field fix. Quite simply, we need to read the Bible with our hearts, which is the source of necessary spiritual building blocks such as humility and submission. This may sound oversimplified, but there is a subtle yet profound difference between the eyes of my head and the eyes of my heart. In fact, check out Ephesians 1:18 before reading these verses about Scripture and heart. As you read the verses below, notice the role of the heart and the action of Scripture.
“A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:14-15).
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
When we observe something from God’s Word, where does it go? Do we conveniently catalog it into a theological system? Do we give it temporary space in our brains—RAM for an upcoming apologetics discussion? These are healthy uses, but Jesus said something else in Luke 6. The observations I make are to seep into the nooks and crannies of my heart where they can do a number on my insides, which ultimately changes my outsides.
Scripture makes me wise for salvation, but it’s not just for the Big Save. It’s also the little saves that happen every day. As Timothy was reading this passage for the first time, he already was what we would call saved. He was a Christ follower, but Scripture continued showing him how salvation through Christ works—how to take his Christ-saved life into the hard decisions and tough dilemmas of every day.
Hebrews 4 says God’s Word does its best work when it has full permission to rework the agenda of my flesh. Therefore, I am committed to engage Scripture with submission and humility. I don’t want simply to gather nuggets that will make me smarter…or worse, only sound smarter. I want to be shaped by Scripture.
Eugene Peterson in Eat This Book used the image of his dog finding and enjoying a fresh deer bone as an analogy for ruminating on God’s Word. His dog leisurely delighted in the find—gnawing, chewing and worrying the bone for hours. Then he buried it, only to enjoy it another day. Scripture isn’t to be observed and catalogued; it is to be chewed on, mulled over and buried in our hearts, where it is sure to be enjoyed another day.
That is how the Bible can shape us.
In youth ministry more than 20 years and as director of InWord Resources, Barry Shafer has written numerous small-group Bible studies and teen devos and is author of Unleashing God’s Word in Youth Ministry (Youth Specialties/Zondervan). He lives in Middletown, Ohio, with his wife, Jessica.
