How do we read scripture?

We all bring something different to the table when we open up that mysterious book we call the Bible. We all have our own way of interpretation. I tend to believe that the Bible is no longer the black and white rule book that I grew up learning about. We have got to release ourselves from the idea that Scripture is something to be mastered. I lean more toward the idea that God's Word is a continuing story of redemptive love rather than a huge list of do's and don't's...

I feel like I'm repeating myself over and over again with these thoughts...maybe I am and that may not be a bad thing. Repition in the Bible signifies something important.

All that to say, Scripture is not a weapon we use to chop people down, prove a point or even a cheat book for the easy way out. Scripture is at its essence, transformative. It does the work on us, not the other way around. Our lifestyle is determined by God's word, AS A WHOLE, not just bits and pieces. We cannot pick out a chunk and ignore the broader picture.

Scripture is a guide for Christian living. Not for me to enforce or insist on you, but to transform my own life, so that God may be glorified through me because of His radical, life-altering Word.