study it for yourself

As someone who reads a lot and listens to a lot of speakers and teachers it is easy to begin to just believe what those people say is the truth. Especially if they are people who are good and well-respected in Christian circles. In lots of ways, we're brought up in the church to believe what people who speak, teach, or write have to say.

But sometimes I wonder if we're missing an aspect of it. I wonder if there is one important question we should be asking ourselves with everything we hear or read. A question that helps us to learn what we heard for ourselves.

Growing up I was often encouraged to take something I had heard or read and check it with the Scripture passages used and Scripture as a whole for myself. Not in a way of not trusting someone, but with an attitude of wanting to see it for myself on the pages of Scripture. There is something to seeing and reading it for yourself on the pages than just hearing someone else talk or reading someone else write about it.

All of this has left me with a couple of questions I find myself continually asking about things I hear or read:

• What do the passages of Scripture this person is talking about say when I read them myself?
• As what I'm hearing them say what Scripture says?

I've found asking myself those questions means I really take the time to learn what God may be saying to me. In my life, they really have been questions that have helped me to grow in my walk with God. I would challenge you to start doing the same thing yourself if you're not already.