Spiritual Formation Through Bible Reading - Our Formation In Christ 16

Our concern for our spiritual growth should be greater than that for our retirement benefits, or our desire for learning and studying. The responsibility for growth is ours, God has provided all that we need for this in that He sent Jesus to die for us, giving us everything pertaining to life and godliness. The Bible is our rule for what we believe and how we live. The Bible is more than ink on paper, but words of spirit and life, the breath of God. Jesus is the Word, the means of our transformation. The Word is profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. The Word equips us towards good works. Studying the Word shows us approved of God because in the Word is where we discover the content, resource, and power towards transformation. We need to have a strong desire for the Word. We read the Word for information, knowledge, and understanding. We read to memorise, meditate, and pray the Word, asking for wisdom, and approaching it with attitude of humility and teachability. This is then followed by revelation, enlightenment, or realization, where we hunger to meet with God, and see ourselves (actions, words, thoughts, and motives), by the input and help of the Holy Spirit, in the light of every passage read. The end product of assimilating the Word, is experiencing the powerful transformation that comes by it. Once a person is transformed by the Word, their words will be filled with them same transformational power to transform others.