Studying the bible for oneself is extremely important to the personal spiritual growth and development of the believer, to live a Christian life.

Well, you may ask; what is the difference between a believer and a Christian? If I believe, am I not a Christian? I’m glad you asked. The Bible, as recorded in Roman 10:9 kjv, lets us know that when we confess with our month, and believe in our heart that God did indeed raise Jesus from the dead, we are saved. The question is what are we saved from? We are saved from the destruction and dominion of sin over our lives. When one believes and confesses, he now opens the door of opportunity for renewal and transformation. This renewal or transformation can only start and be maintained through studying and following God’s Word. When we study the Word of God, we learn to become followers of Jesus Christ.

For example, as recorded in the Gospels of: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, which gives an account of the life and teachings of Christ; Jesus called fishermen to become disciples. In Mark chapter one, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and saw fishers. Jesus told the fishermen to follow me. The fishermen straightway drooped their nets and to follow Jesus. In order for the fishermen to follow Jesus, there had to be some type of belief or confidence in him. When Jesus said follow me, it simply meant believe in me and I will make you to become fishers of men. Upon the fishermen believing in Jesus, they followed him, and were taught by him to become Christians which is simply followers of Christ.

Well, you ask, what does this have to do with effective bible study methods? My answer is EVERYTHING! If we want to feed our faith and grow in developing as followers of Christ, studying to learn of about Jesus, his actions and habits is essential.

We are all different and what is effective for one may not be as effective for another. However, I have found, for myself, a method that feeds me what I need in order to grow spiritually and develop as a Christian.

• The first step I take is, to have Devotion:

o   During this time before beginning anything I pray. Prayer helps me come to a calm down and focus on what is before me. During my prayer I ask God to open up my spiritual eyes, to see beyond the topical and into the spiritual. I consecrate myself because I want to be fully in His presence. I also ask for illumination of the revelation or the enlightenment to receive His revealed Word. I also begin to worship Him, and honor Him, in song because this ushers in His presence allows Him to increase as well as me to decrease. This will go on throughout the week.

• The next step I take is, to READ! READ! READ!

o   This simply means that at this point, I am only reading in order to get an understanding of the situation or the topical circumstances. During this time, although reading lasts for a number of days. I begin a study systematically. Beginning a study, systematically simply means that, since I like research and investigations, I want to find out the: background, writer, mind frame of the people or person involved, the setting, the environment, the issues that surroundings, and etc. I find that it is always good to know what is going on before as well as after.

• I also begin to utilize different versions of the bible and reference materials that are no charge an available through the internet as well as, purchased materials.
• The next step I take is a more biblical/ spiritual approach.

o   I basically at this point, begin to ask myself, how does this scripture apply to me? I like to deal with me as well as my current situation and circumstances, applying them to the Word before addressing or expressing to anyone else. I begin to do a self-evaluation in order place myself in the shoes, situation, or circumstance of the individual/s involved in the text.

In order to become Christians and follow the example of Christ we must learn of him and his ways through the Word. Each individual person, even as the disciples displayed, will learn in different ways. However, no matter what way or how we learn, the underlying factor is that we should be willing to follow Jesus. In order to follow Jesus and beome Christians studying and applying the Word is essential to a Christ like life.