{"id":62968,"date":"2018-07-18T06:19:11","date_gmt":"2018-07-18T06:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qualityservdev.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/reading-bible\/"},"modified":"2025-09-17T08:10:26","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T08:10:26","slug":"reading-bible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/blog\/reading-bible\/","title":{"rendered":"How NOT to Read the Bible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"img-fluid float-lg-end ms-lg-3 text-center text-lg-left\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/debby-hudson-556522-unsplash-e1531763842599-1.jpg\" class=\"img-fluid\" width=\"500\" \/><\/p>\r\n<p>From a young age, I was continually encouraged to read the Bible on my own. As I look back, I find that even though I had read the Bible for years, I did not possess a proper understanding of God. Much of my understanding about God was either incomplete or erroneous due to my immature handling of His word.\u00a0\r\n\r\n<p>Recently, I\u2019ve discovered and unearthed hidden treasures in the Bible through systematic reading. This has helped me in understanding who God is and who I am.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n<p>Here are some immature ways to read the Bible (as I have done in the past):<\/p>\r\n<ul>\r\n\t<li>Reading the Bible as if it was just an inspirational book \u2013 a place to find motivational quotes to give me a transient sentimental high.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Reading the Bible as if it was my school syllabus \u2013 forcibly reading it because I had to.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Reading the Bible as if it was merely a self-help book \u2013 to get useful life hacks and tips on how to react to regular threats and warnings from your boss (older sibling in my case).<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Reading the Bible as if it were a recipe book \u2013 opening it from the middle or from anywhere depending on my current taste and mood.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Reading the Bible as if it were a borrowed book \u2013 hurriedly reading it as if I had to return it to someone else.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Reading it like a menu card at my favourite restaurant \u2013 ignoring most of what\u2019s written and always sticking to the same item every time.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Treating it like an investment book \u2013 on how to invest so as to get back more returns and \u2018lay up more\u2019 for myself.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Treating it like a psychology manual \u2013 ready to offer advice to others without ever introspecting my own life.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Treating it like a chanting book \u2013 picking out certain phrases and chanting it like a repetitive parrot without understanding it.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Treating it like a new item in the store \u2013 too careful to touch it lest it gets soiled with fingerprints.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Using the Bible as an armour for excuses \u2013 twisting verses out of context to suit my own agenda and defend my behaviour.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>(Note: There is nothing wrong in turning to the Bible to motivate yourself or to look for tips on practical living. It becomes dangerous when that is the only thing you do with the Bible. The Bible is so much more than a self-help book.)<\/p>\r\n<p><em>Contributed by Joy Shekyna<\/em><br \/>\r\n<em>Joy is a dentist who works in a gospel-mission clinic and cheers for second chances and life for those on the margins. In her free time, you can find her clearing space on her phone.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From a young age, I was continually encouraged to read the Bible on my own. As I look back, I find that even though I had read the Bible for years, I did not possess a proper understanding of God. Much of my understanding about God was either incomplete or erroneous due to my immature [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/blog\/reading-bible\/\">Read More&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> from How NOT to Read the Bible<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62968"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62968\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63353,"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62968\/revisions\/63353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusiondelhi.in\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}