Learning how to study the Bible

Learning how to study the Bible requires knowing about yourself and the act of learning itself. In other words, we need to learn about learning. Look at the following facts about learning to understand the process better.

WHAT LEARNING IS

Learning is a process of growth and development. As a person grows physically, learning changes with the physical gain. Development in learning means that a person adds to the growth he or she experiences and then quality comes to life. Learning involves not only a person’s mind, but rather learning captures the whole person since it is vital to life itself. Learning is a complex event that involves a person's thoughts, emotions, attitudes, assumptions, perspectives and interpretations, physical responses, health condition, genetic endowments, mental abilities that are all in orchestration in one another in one event. Since the whole person is involved, the spirit, soul and the body play a part in learning.

Learning in the Christian outlook is the discovery of God, His word and how life is affected by that discovery. Learning from this perspective is spiritual in nature at every level. The end of learning is for every person to come into the presence of God, experience His righteousness that causes the human heart to change from selfish conceit and self-willed living to selfless denial that rises to grasp onto the sufficiency of God.

Once discovering God’s sufficiency, humble submission to God’s will brings a change in thought patterns from hate for everything that is right, pure and holy to a undying adoration toward everything God reveals of His nature. This humility brings the human heart to respond in conviction sparked by the very voice of God expressed on the tongue of God’s messenger or in the pages of the scriptures. Obedience, motivated by an awestruck spirit, leads the changed individual to mature in character, ethics, thinking, emotions and behavior that is keenly directed toward an all-consuming commitment to God—even in the face of persecution or physical death.

THE PROCESS OF LEARNING. (Note--no order was intended)

	Learning begins in the physical realm and progresses to the spiritual.
	Learning begins in the simple and progresses to the complex.
	Learning begins with facts in isolation and develops to the ability to make evaluative judgments.
	Learning begins with living by sight and develops to living by conviction (faith).
	Learning begins with awareness of self and develops toward an awareness of others.
	Learning begins in amorality (under the law of parents), progresses to immorality (under the law of sin and death), then if regeneration occurs, learning develops into morality (under the law that gives liberty; the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus) .
	Learning begins with awareness of rules (external motivation—i.e. fear of punishment), progresses to legalism (i.e. fear of being found imperfect) then matures to spirit guided life (internal motivation—i.e. faith in Christ as our righteousness that inspires one to live a pure, holy life unto the Lord, imitating the Lord in discipleship to Him ).
	Learning begins with behavior then it matures to the change of the heart.
	Learning begins under the direction of another ( tutorage of parents) and grows to self-directed learning as the student matures as a learner.