There is a way to study the Bible for years and never actually learn anything new.
Not because the Bible is shallow.
But because we are.
You can open it every day.
Underline verses.
Fill journals.
Lead groups.
Teach classes.
And still never allow it to change your mind, confront your assumptions, or reshape your life.
If your goal is to keep the Bible safely contained—familiar, predictable, and non-disruptive—here are five things you can do.
They work every time.
1. Only Look for What You Already Believe
The easiest way to never learn anything new is to treat the Bible like a mirror instead of a window.
A mirror reflects you.
A window lets you see something beyond you.
If you only look for verses that confirm what you already think, you will always find them. You will highlight your positions, reinforce your opinions, and walk away reassured that you were right all along.
And you will never be changed.
Because you never actually listened.
You only searched for agreement.
2. Decide What It Means Before You Read It
This is a powerful strategy.
Start with your conclusion.
Then go find support.
Don’t ask, “What is this saying?”
Ask, “Where is the verse that backs up what I already believe?”
When the outcome is predetermined, discovery becomes impossible.
You’re no longer studying Scripture.
You’re recruiting it.
3. Avoid the Parts That Make You Uncomfortable
The Bible is full of disruptive truth.
It confronts pride.
Exposes motives.
Challenges loyalties.
Calls for surrender.
So if you want to avoid growth, stay in the safe passages.
Revisit the familiar ones.
Skip the ones that raise questions.
Ignore the ones that confront your lifestyle, your attitudes, or your control.
Because discomfort is often the front door to transformation.
And if you never walk through that door, nothing changes.
4. Study It Only to Teach Others
This one is subtle—and incredibly dangerous.
It’s possible to read the Bible constantly and never let it read you.
To analyze it.
Outline it.
Explain it.
All while keeping it at arm’s length.
When your primary goal is to teach others, you can begin to treat Scripture like information instead of invitation.
You explain it without ever allowing it to examine you.
You deliver truth you haven’t personally surrendered to.
And over time, your knowledge grows… but you don’t.
5. Never Approach It With Humility
Humility is the doorway to learning.
Pride is the barrier.
If you approach Scripture assuming you already understand it, already live it, already embody it—you close yourself off from discovery.
Because learning requires the willingness to be wrong.
The willingness to see something you missed.
The willingness to be corrected.
The Bible rarely reveals new truth to people who believe they already have all of it.
The Real Danger
The greatest danger in Bible study is not misunderstanding it.
It’s domesticating it.
Making it safe.
Predictable.
Manageable.
Because the Bible was never meant to be controlled.
It was meant to confront.
To reveal.
To transform.
Not just how you think.
But who you are.
So How Should You Study It?
Come curious.
Come honest.
Come willing to see what you’ve never seen.
And maybe most importantly—
Come willing to be changed.
Because the Bible will absolutely teach you something new.
But only if you let it.
The Greatest Threat.
The greatest threat to your spiritual life is not that you don’t read the Bible.
It’s that you read it…
and nothing ever changes.
Because the moment Scripture stops confronting you, it stops forming you.
And when the Bible becomes a book you already understand, it usually means you’ve stopped listening.
Not because God stopped speaking.
But because you stopped surrendering.
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