When I first began taking my Catholic faith seriously, one of the first things I realized I needed to do was learn how to read the Bible, because doing so would help to form my mind as a disciple of Christ.
As a Catholic school student, I had limited knowledge of the Bible, but I had not learned how to pray with Scripture and allow it to form my mind. I had only a limited understanding of the entire Scriptures.
Through trial and error over many years, I have now formed a regular habit of reading and studying the Scriptures.
Doing so has transformed my life. Now, various passages of Scripture come to mind during prayer and in different situations to guide my thoughts and actions. I view situations more through a biblical lens of hope and God’s providence. I love God and my neighbor better.
Overall, this regular study of Scripture has also helped me work through various wounding life experiences, such as the deaths of loved ones and years of chronic pain, handle the stresses of life better, and live the God life intended me to live. In short, it has helped me grow in resilience.
This article will discuss the importance of regular Scripture study for building your resilience and provide ways to incorporate it into your daily life.
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The Importance of a Well-Formed Mind for Resilience
Resilience is the ability to find healing after trauma, manage life’s stresses effectively, and ultimately thrive.
Many different things promote resilience. Here at Tria Corda Ministry, we divide these into five resilience building blocks. They are:
- Mental Health: Living in accordance with the truth in your thinking
- Physical Health: Good friendships and taking care of your body
- Spiritual Health: Prayer and regular reception of the Sacraments
- Virtue: Living a virtuous life and striving for that
- Vocation: Investing in our state-in-life vocations and other callings God gives us.
As you can see, having a mind well-formed with the truth is essential for resilience. Knowing the truth about God, ourselves, others, and the world is necessary. God wants us to know deeply that He loves us, created us for love, and created other human beings with immense dignity.
When we understand these truths, we grasp the ultimate purpose of our lives, which in turn helps us find healing and thrive. We can live with an eternal mindset, one where everyday stresses don’t cause harm. We know that, even if we have faced trauma, God loves us immensely.
So, how do we form our minds with these truths? That’s where Scripture comes in.
The Importance of Reading the Bible
In his book Into His Likeness, Dr. Edward Sri writes about the importance of our minds. He writes that what is in our minds influences our desires, our pursuits, who we are, and how we view reality. The apostle Paul recognized this and called his disciples to renew their minds (Romans 12:2). When God’s truth forms our minds, we will live out His will. When God’s truth does not form our minds, we won’t live as God intended.
The example of the first Christians also shows us the importance of studying the Scriptures. In Acts 2:42, we see the practices of the early Church. The first thing mentioned is learning the teachings of the apostles, or the Scriptures. The first Christians recognized the importance of well-formed minds in fulfilling Jesus’ calling.
Dr. Sri writes that we need to give the same priority to the study of the Scriptures, so we allow God to shape our minds, and thus our desires and who we become. Regular reading of Scripture renews our minds and forms them with the truth.
To learn more about the importance of forming our minds as disciples of Jesus, I recommend picking up a copy of Into His Likeness by Dr. Edward Sri.
Lectio Divina: A Method for Reading and Applying the Bible
The Bible is not like a typical book that we read from cover to cover and then probably don’t read again. Instead, the Bible is God’s dynamic love letter to us, through which He always speaks.
Because of this, we should not approach reading the Bible like a typical book, but instead, as a conversation with God. The method of lectio divina (Latin for divine reading) or discovery prayer will help this.
A monk developed the steps of lectio divina about one thousand years ago. He used the image of a stepladder to Heaven to teach people how to read the Bible.
The steps of lectio divina are:
- Pick out a passage to read and invite the Holy Spirit into this time.
- Read: Slowly read the passage to gain a sense of what it says.
- Meditate: You may want to reread the passage. The goal in this step is to find a word or phrase that jumps out at you.
- Pray: Talk to God about that word or phrase.
- Contemplate: Rest in God’s presence and allow Him to speak to you about the passage.
- Resolve: Based on your time of prayer, make a resolution for how you will apply this passage to your life.
Lectio divina is an excellent foundational habit for your Scripture study. To learn more about lectio divina, I recommend Into the Deep by Dan Burke and Broken and Blessed by Fr. Josh Johnson.
How to Read the Bible
As we can see, lectio divina is a helpful way to approach Scripture study, but how do we choose what passage to read?
One of my theology professors once said that many saints and theologians read the Bible in three ways:
- Reading the whole thing all the way through to get the complete picture
- Reading a whole book at a time to gain a sense of the message of God in that book
- Reading smaller passages to apply them deeply to our minds.
Each of these three ways of studying Scripture is necessary. Reading the entire Bible and its individual books helps us learn more about the entirety of salvation history and our place within it. It also helps us improve our understanding of shorter passages by enabling us to better grasp their context. Studying smaller passages intensely is extremely helpful for making resolutions and extracting life lessons.
Lectio divina is an excellent foundation for all of these habits. Here are some ways to study Scripture in each of these three ways.
How to Read the Whole Bible
Many programs can help you read the entire Bible in a Year. One of the most popular is Bible in a Year with Ascension Press. Many people complete the Bible in a Year by listening to the free podcast, but you can also purchase study books online. You can learn more about Bible in a Year here (not an affiliate link).
How to Read the Books of the Bible
Another way to study the Bible is to spend multiple days or weeks studying one book, reading one chapter or section every day.
If you want to study Scripture in this way, the Gospels are great books to start with. Once you have finished the Gospels, you can begin working your way through the narrative books of the Bible to gain a sense of salvation history. The narrative books are:
- Genesis
- Exodus
- Numbers
- Joshua
- Judges
- I Samuel
- II Samuel
- I Kings
- II Kings
- Ezra
- Nehemiah
- I Maccabees
- The Gospels
- Acts
Then, you can start working through other books.
How to Read Smaller Sections of the Bible
Another great way to study Scripture is to spend time with a shorter passage.
Here are a few ways to find smaller sections to study:
- Find the Mass readings of the day.
- Read the Office of Readings. The Office of Readings is a part of the Liturgy of the Hours (the daily prayer of the Church). During the Office of Readings, we pray through three psalms and then have two readings to study and reflect on. The first reading is an extended passage of Scripture.
- Bible studies
How to Build a Regular Scripture Study Habit
Ideally, we would all have ample time to devote to studying Scripture every day. However, the reality is that many of us only have 10-15 minutes a day (or less) to devote to studying Scripture, so incorporating all three types of study into your life may not be feasible.
The important thing is to regularly read and apply Scripture to your life, regardless of your current state. Therefore, I recommend choosing one of these methods of reading Scripture and making it a habit.
How do you pick which one to do?
- If you don’t feel like you have a great understanding of the whole of the Bible and where things are, starting with Bible in a Year may be good for you.
- If you don’t feel like you have a great understanding of the Gospels and salvation history, then studying one book at a time may be good for you.
- Listen to the prompting of the Lord. He may draw you to different types of study at various times in your life.
Overall, the importance lies in regularly allowing God to speak to you and shape your mind through Scripture. Doing so will improve your relationship with Him and enable you to heal, cope with daily stresses, and live the abundant life God has in store for you, both now and in eternity. When I first began taking my Catholic faith seriously, one of the first things I realized I needed to do was learn how to read the Bible, because doing so would help to form my mind as a disciple of Christ.