I’ve been reading Women of the Word by Jen Wilkin and so far, it’s been really great! Super practical, and super motivating to spend time in Scripture, getting to know God.
She starts off by saying that we often approach Scripture wrong. We have a tendency to make it all about ourselves and to try and squeeze a self-help book out of it rather than treating it as the Word of God.
She also says we too quickly turn to Scripture to make us feel something. We often consider it a failure if we lack certain feelings or emotions or earthshattering mountaintop experiences. Rather, we are told many times in Scripture to renew our mind and to love the Lord with all our mind. She makes some valid points.
Here are her two “turnarounds” as she calls them to bring you back to studying Scripture by getting the whole point of it all.
Turnaround #1: Let the Bible Speak of God. She writes, “We must turn around our habit of asking ‘Who am I?’ We must first ask, ‘What does this passage teach me about God?’ before we ask it to teach us anything about ourselves. We must acknowledge that the Bible is a book about God.”
Turnaround #2: Let the Mind Transform the Heart. “If we want to feel a deeper love for God, we must learn to see him more clearly for who he is. If we want to feel deeply about God, we must learn to think deeply about God… The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.”
{That perspective is beautiful.}
As you have time with Jesus this week and read His Word, consider letting the Bible speak about God, and read through the lens of mind-over-heart. God may begin to cultivate in you a deeper love and care for Him and make richer and sweeter your time.
If you’d like to read more, check out her book here! I recommend it so far, although say so hesitantly because I haven’t finished it! But so far, so good. Happy Scripture study! :)