Some people heard the stories of the Bible before they were even out of the womb, and they grew up knowing the Gospel message by heart. But for many others, the words of Scripture are brand new. If we’re in the first group, may we never make new believers feel stupid, but always be ready to graciously answer questions and help to teach; if we’re in the second group, may we never stop asking questions or lose excitement about the miracle of the Gospel!

A key part of the Christian life is the study of Scripture. But God doesn’t just want us to read it; He wants us to be engrossed and embedded in it in such a way that we apply it to our lives on an everyday basis. When we do more than just read the Bible, and we also obey what it says, then we not only model its life application to the people around us — we gain credibility to teach others to do the same.

There’s nothing wrong with studying the Bible and wanting to learn, and it’s true that God can use other people to help us grow in our knowledge of His Word. But it’s even more important that we learn how to feed ourselves the spiritual food that can only be found in meditating directly on Scripture. When we fail to do so, we risk starving the Holy Spirit that lives within us.