Does reading the Bible make a difference in your life?
According to a recent study, spending time in God’s Word and reflecting on its truths has a powerful impact on one’s life. This writer knows this from past experiences. If experience is our teacher, why is it so easy to stray from our morning reading, quiet time, seven minutes with God, devotional time, or whatever we call it?
The Navigator’s Church Discipleship Ministries conducted research with over 100,000 people worldwide on this subject, and here is what they found:
If people reflect on the Bible 4 or more times a week, their odds of giving into temptation are:
- Drinking in excess decreases by 62%
- Pornography use decreases by 59%
- Having sex outside of marriage is lowered by 59%
- Gambling decreased by 45%
- Lashing out in anger is 31% less
If a person reflects on the Bible four or more times a week, their odds of struggling with issues decrease by ___%.
- Feeling bitter - 40%
- Feeling discouraged – 31%
- Experiencing loneliness – 30%
When a person engages in the Bible most days of the week, it is a strong predictor of a more active faith in the following areas:
- Generous giving to God’s work + 416 %
- Memorizing scripture + 407%
- Sharing their faith with others + 228%
- Generous giving to the needs of others + 218%
They also reported two other surprising findings: Attending church does not affect a person’s behavior. However, personal involvement and the intake of truths from the Bible at least four days a week make a significant difference in a person’s life.
These statistics may not move you, but it sure does seem that they prove that the best plan for a person’s life is applying this practice to a person’s life and that it pays off positively. Matthew 4:4 “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord”
2/18/25
New Identity
It all begins with an idea.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
So, what does it mean to have a “new” identity? Why is that important? Our first identity, the “old” we were born with, was interested in satisfying self or flesh. We are all born sinners (Romans 3:23), destined to die a sinner’s death (Romans 6:23). But Christ came and made the way for us to be reconciled (vs 18 and Romans 5:8).
Many start their journey with Christ because of frustration or painful consequences that have made them realize there is more to life—a better way. We desire change in our lives and want it “now.” Nothing is wrong with this desire; it is the starting point for change.
Unfortunately, our desire to change has a time frame: “now.” But we go about fixing the behavior rather than the cause of the behavior. The problem is much deeper than our behavior.
That is like trying to stop a domino from falling, only to find it falling repeatedly. When we step back and examine the cause of the problem, we find that several dominos are already tumbling before the one you are attempting to correct.
The problem is that we must go back to the root of the problem, the beginning. The “New Creation” is different from the old. The old was about self and its desires, while the new creation is about God’s plans.
The new birth (Romans 10-9-10) is the beginning of change, becoming more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 2:6) and abiding in Him.
To achieve actual change, we must start at the root or heart level and then change behaviors. Otherwise, we are only putting a band-aid on the behavior; we may or may not stop the behavior now or in the future, but getting to the root cause will eliminate the problem.
It is discouraging to find out that there is no quick fix, but then again, God has done the foundational work, the work we could not do. He has made the way for us to transition through Jesus Christ. He is committed to our change, as shown by sending His Son. Our job now is to turn to Him and follow His plan (spelled out in the Bible), and we must take the time necessary to learn and understand His plan for our lives. We need to have a relationship with Him, be obedient to His direction for us, and love others as He has loved us.
We must learn to take time, meditate on God’s Word, be still and allow Him to talk to us, and begin to operate in obedience to His plan for our lives.