{"id":4415,"date":"2018-02-25T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2018-02-25T15:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=4415"},"modified":"2018-03-03T22:01:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T04:01:02","slug":"choose-to-use-biblical-knowledge-wisely","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=4415","title":{"rendered":"Choose to Use Biblical Knowledge Wisely"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet Another Year of Choices<\/em><\/p>\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n

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A few years ago, I was conversing with a man about some \u201cspecial\u201d understanding he had reached while doing Biblical research. Actually, I use the word \u201cconversing\u201d loosely, since it takes two people to have a conversation and this guy definitely was not interested in anything I had to say.\u00a0 It was somewhat interesting, but the pontification went on for a long time. I tuned out somewhere between the genealogies, archeological findings, and where everyone had it all wrong but him.<\/p>\n

Finally, when he took a breath, I said, \u201cThat\u2019s interesting. How do you feel all these findings have enhanced your walk with Jesus Christ?\u201d<\/p>\n

I expected him to expound on proving the Bible true or God\u2019s existence or something somewhat significant. Instead he just looked perplexed and almost speechless for a moment. Then he replied, \u201cI don\u2019t think it has.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s too bad,\u201d I said. \u201cWhat good is all this knowledge if it doesn\u2019t draw you closer to God?\u201d A statement he could not seem to comprehend.<\/p>\n

As he started to spout a few more facts and data, I excused myself. My \u201cpolite-listening\u201d gene had reached its limit. Let him bore someone else with his \u201cspecial\u201d understanding. What good is this kind of knowledge if it doesn\u2019t enhance one\u2019s relationship with Jesus Christ?<\/p>\n

Biblical knowledge is not synonymous with wisdom or spiritual maturity. Knowledge is merely information. If not used to edify the body of Christ, it can just \u201cpuff\u201d us up \u2013 not build us up. And it can be incredibly boring! That \u201cI know more than you do\u201d officiousness will not win souls for Christ. 1 Corinthians 8:1 says that knowledge may make us feel important, but love builds up the church. The purpose of Biblical knowledge and scriptures should be to point us to Jesus Christ. (John 5:39, 40)<\/p>\n

We study the Bible not so much to know about God, but rather to know God and grow in an intimate relationship with Him. Knowing about archeological findings might be interesting, but knowing how Jesus handled certain situations can teach us how to live. How did He treat people? How was His relationship with God manifested? Sometimes we build whole doctrines around one or two scriptures we do not fully understand and totally ignore the hundreds of scriptures focusing on believing in God, praising God, loving God, and loving one another.<\/p>\n

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Bible study is essential for Christian growth. Using other reference sources to elevate that study is commendable. No one loves a trivia tidbit better than I do. It can stimulate us mentally and cause us to dig deeper into the Scriptures. But let\u2019s never forget that God is not looking for \u201chead\u201d knowledge as much as He is for \u201cheart\u201d knowledge.<\/p>\n

Consider this\u2026 We are to love God with all our \u201cheart,\u201d not all our \u201chead.\u201d\u00a0 Using what we learn to draw closer to God, enhance our relationship with Him, and be better representatives of Jesus Christ is how we can use our Biblical knowledge wisely.<\/p>\n

One final thought\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not how much you know, but how much you care that really counts!<\/p>\n

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Yet Another Year of Choices By Barbara Dahlgren   A few years ago, I was conversing with a man about some \u201cspecial\u201d understanding he had reached while doing Biblical research. Actually, I use the word \u201cconversing\u201d loosely, since it takes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}