The next three weeks we’ve decided to get back to basics. We’re not talking flannel graphs or Nilla Wafers, but the foundations of growing and connecting to God. This week we’ll consider how we teach our students how to read the Bible. In the next two weeks, we’ll talk about worship and prayer. Check back every Monday for more.

Matt: For me Bible reading is a fundamental task to growing your faith. It’s a way of growing closer to God, by reading his love letter to us. We need to teach students how to use the Bible to learn the history of our faith, but also as a resource when they have a problem or issue and they need answers. If you’re a small group leader and you know what lesson you are going to teach on next week, give your students some Bible verses the week before to read and research to really gain the understanding of not only the meaning but how that verse applies in their life. Have students do the Bible reading in your group. I don’t let my guys gloss over a word that is hard to read, or a phrase that might be hard to understand. I want them to know how to say Nebuchadnezzar and know what role he played in the Bible.

When I get a question from a student about what the Bible says is the right thing to do, I’ll ask them if they have researched anything yet, or are they wanting me to give them the easy answer. It reminds me of when I was a kid and I’d ask my mom what a certain word meant. Instead of just telling me, she would make me look it up in the dictionary. And by dictionary, I mean a book, not Dictionary.com. I’d have to figure out how to spell the word so I could find it and then read the meaning. At the time I thought it was stupid – if she knew the answer she should just tell me. As I got older I knew why she did it, she wanted me to be able to figure things out for myself. I do the same with students. If they don’t get what a verse means I’ll help them and show them how to use the footnotes and the reference section to find other verses that apply.

Bible reading is an important part of my quiet time each day, I read for a while, then pray, then think about how that applies to my life. There are many ways to go about reading the Bible. Some people like the “read the entire bible in a year” approach, some will read through a certain book of the Bible, and some just open the Bible and start from there. I do the latter most of the time. I pray first that God will lead me to something in the Bible that I need to read and most of the time after I read a certain passage, within a few days something will happen or a student will have a problem, and I’ll realize the passage that I just read applies. God led me to that passage to read it and understand it and have it in my tool kit for a problem that is about to come my way.

Steven: Reading the Bible hasn’t always been something that I’ve been good at. In fact, it wasn’t until last year that I really got into reading it and getting stuff out of it. Before that I always just thought it was a good thing to do, but I didn’t see the need for me to engage in it. Then it became sort of like going to the gym: I knew I needed to make time for it, I put it off, and then as soon as I got done reading I was so glad I did it.

I know that if I had been inspired and taught how to read the Bible at a younger age, I would be much further along in the game than I am now. I would love to have my junior high students come up to me and ask about a passage they read. The fact is, it can be hard to teach junior highers, or any students for that matter, the importance of reading the Bible. I still have a hard time with it, and honestly, I don’t think I emphasize it enough.

If I were to break down how to teach students how to read the Bible in 3 sentences, here’s what they would be:

1. The Bible doesn’t have to be boring. It’s easy to think of the Bible as a boring book when there are things like Numbers and Leviticus included. Emphasize the exciting parts of the Bible, like the Gospels and books like Joshua (for boys) and Psalms (for girls) (maybe.) (honestly, I don’t know about teaching girls).

2. The Bible is an instruction manual for life. If you are going through a problem or want advice on a particular area of your life, the Bible has something to say. Who better to turn to for advice than the Creator of life Himself?

3. The Bible grows you closer to God. The more you read about someone, the more you know them. If I read a book about the things George Washington did during his time as President, I would feel like I knew him better. The same thing applies with God – if you read about His history and the way He works, you’ll grow closer to Him.

Teaching about the Bible can be a daunting task to some, but it is absolutely essential to the growth of your students. The earlier on you can teach it, the better, so get to work!

Question: What are some techniques you use to teach your students how to read the Bible?