What is your idea of the Perfect Christian?

Who do you think of when you think of the perfect Christian? What attributes and/or characteristics does that person have? Is it a person that is highly sociable with a big smile? Does this person exude passion and eagerly participate in any and all church activities? Is he or she comfortable with the spotlight and attract crowds of people? Does this person often have people over to their house for small groups or maybe just to have fun?

I am willing to bet most of you saw these traits in that person you saw as the “perfect Christian”. And if you didn’t, I am willing to bet this was your description as the perfect Christian before you learned about introversion. I’m not going to lie. I did. I always saw those that were more outgoing and sociable in the church as the more spiritual ones. The ones closer to God. Why else would they be that excited?

Lets look at the Stats

One of my favorite books on the topic of Christian introversion is “Introverts in the Church” by Adam McHugh. Chapter one of that book is actually what inspired the writing of this article. Adam tells us about a study that was done with students of Harvard University. The students were asked to rate Jesus according to the Myers Briggs personality traits. Interestingly enough, most of the students rated Jesus to be almost identical to themselves on almost all the personality traits. For instance, when it came to being a thinker or a feeler, students portrayed Jesus as more of a feeler if the student was also a feeler.

The more interesting part is when they came to the part of the study that asked students to rate Jesus as an introvert or an extrovert. Overwhelmingly, 97% of students said Jesus was an extrovert. This was bewildering given the fact that over half of the students surveyed were introverts themselves. So, despite the fact students saw Jesus as sharing their same personality, for the most part, even introverts overwhelmingly put him in the extroverted category. This means that there is a skewed perception of the “Perfect Christian”. This study shows us that an ideal Christian is a person with an extroverted personality. Why is this?

Well, I don’t think it is out of line to believe that our western culture has a lot to do with this skewed perception. Here in the U.S., we tend to put those with an extroverted personality to a higher esteem, as opposed to the eastern culture that prefers introspective thinkers. We envy those that can wow a crowd and speak to people they just met as if they have been friends for years.

Our great leaders are outspoken and can thrive in the spotlight. They don’t take “no” for an answer and they don’t let feelings get in the way of there failures. That’s who we look up too. When we think of perfection, we think of a better version of ourselves. And here in America, our better selves are more sociable and outspoken. So it is no wonder we see the perfect Christian as that sociable, outspoken person. So where did this idea come from?

The Paradigm Shift

Susan Cane, author of the book “Quiet: The Power of Introversion in a World that Can’t Stop Talking“, calls this the “extrovert ideal”. Which means, our ideal selves are extroverts. We no longer look up to the man that uses his thoughts but rather his words. Susan covers a paradigm shift that happened at the turn of the 20th century that might explain how this came about. As we began to live in big cities and surround ourselves with more strangers, we relied more on a persons personality or first impression to get a sense of who they are.

This was the opposite of how we judged a persons character in the 19th century. In the 19th century, we lived in mostly small towns, where everyone knew you and you knew all of them. With a lifetime of knowing certain people, we were able to judge on true character rather than first impression or charisma.

We now look up to the man that uses his words. Especially if he says it with such confidence. Modern evangelicalism is a good example of this. It is noted in the book, “Introverts in the Church“, that when Adam McHugh goes in for an assistant pastor interview, the preacher directly tells him there is no room for a person that is not extroverted and lively. That is a pretty straightforward pastor and one that believes introversion is a sign of spiritual immaturity. When I read that statement, it made me wonder how many other people believe that. My guess is a whole lot! As you may guess, I don’t believe that one bit. And I hope you don’t.

Was Jesus an Introvert?

As I study the life of Christ, I don’t see him as an extrovert. I don’t even see him as an introvert. I see him as the perfect Christian. Now he obviously wasn’t a Christian (because that term came about after his death), but you get my point. Jesus was the perfect example of what God wanted from man. When man was created, Jesus is what God intended. Adam was that man until he sinned. Which in turn no longer made him the example we should live by.

Jesus was not an introvert or an extrovert. He was all the personality types in one, embodying the perfect balance. This balance is what we all should strive for. He was able to go along the introvert-extrovert continuum (mentioned here) depending on the situation he was in. Jesus showed extroverted qualities while at the synagogue preaching or when was able to speak to crowds of people without feeling anxiety. He showed introverted tendencies while seeking solitude and cherishing small groups, such as the time he and the disciples went to see Mary and Martha.

A ministry student, Gary Baldwin, wrote a doctoral paper that covers this very topic. It is called “A Personality Theory of Christian Personality“. In his paper, he mentions a man by the name of John Sanford and his book, “The Kingdom Within“. Johns take on Jesus’ personality hits the nail on the head in my opinion.

He [John A. Sanford] clarifies that maturity, specifically spiritual
maturity, comes in consciously developing and balancing all facets of the human
personality. Through a careful study of the Gospels he reveals in Jesus a personality that
is perfectly developed and balanced.

This means that we have to constantly work on our spiritual and physical maturity by putting a conscious effort into developing our personality. Gary also points out in his paper that throughout different stages of our life, we are working on developing different functions which make up our ultimate personality in the end. Each function is a part of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Read more about that here.

Attitude: E . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . I
Perceiving Function: S . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . N
Judging Function: T . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . F
Generic Functions: J . . . . . . . . . . . | . . . . . . . . . . . . P

It is believed that we don’t reach a more balanced personality until after the age of 50. In Gary’s paper, the balance is described as “greater psychological dexterity”. Which I think is a pretty fantastic term. It just paints a better picture of what you are trying to achieve. Being able to balance between personalities as effortlessly as possible.

Conclusion

As Christians, our goal is to be “like Christ”. Christ was perfect in all of his ways and was sent here to be the example to mankind. Because of his perfection, he was perfectly balanced in his personality. Which is what we should be striving for. If you are an introvert, don’t settle in your introversion. Work to strengthen your extroverted side. Engage with others and put yourself out there sometimes. The world will benefit and be a much better place because of it. If you are an extrovert, find the time to practice introspection and reflection. You will gain a much greater understanding of who you are and what you really want out of life. It also gives you that quiet time to actually listen for God.

Yes, God made you a certain way and there is a reason he made you that way. Each person, or type of person, has their strengths and weaknesses. It is okay to have a preferred personality. But it is not okay to let that personality define who you are as a person. Only you can define you. Tim Challies, of Challies.com says, “Introversion is a useful description, but a poor definition” and I couldn’t agree more.

The answer you have been waiting for…

I want to wrap up by saying, the perfect Christian is not an Introvert or an Extrovert. It is not the person who enjoys being on stage or working a crowd. It is not even the person that in alone all day in his den studying the word of God and reading book about theology. The perfect christian is a perfect mix of all of those aspects, and more. That mix might look a little different for everyone. You will obviously play more to your strengths and talents. That is why God gave them to you. Rest assured, the more you work to find that balance as Christ had, the more you will be fulfilled in your faith.

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What is the Perfect Christian? was originally published in Christian Introvert on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Have you ever been described as “shy” or “quiet”? Have you been told to “come out of your shell”? If so, you are most likely an introvert. “Introvert” is a term for a personality trait that has only really been around since the early 1900s.

If you google the word introvert, this is what you will find.

Introvert Definition

noun: introvert; plural noun: introverts

a shy, reticent person.

a better way to say it

• a person predominantly concerned with their own thoughts and feelings rather than with external things.

Extrovert vs Introvert

There are three main terms used to categorize a person’s personality. Extrovert, Ambivert and Introvert. I am only going to cover the two most people talk about. One is “extrovert”, someone who is outgoing and more outwardly expressive, and the other is “introvert”, someone who is more introspective with their thoughts and tends to hold back outward expressions. No one is 100% introverted or 100% extroverted.

The concept of introversion and extroversion is more of a scale or continuum with extrovert on one end and introvert on the other end while ambivert falls right in the middle. You can be anywhere on this scale, but you can’t be two places on the scale at once. For example, the more introverted you are. The less extroverted you are and visa-versa. That sounds elementary. But it holds true to the fact that a person cannot be both highly extroverted and highly introverted at the same time.

Is being “shy’ the same as being Introverted?

Although shyness is one way to describe introverts, being “shy” and being an ‘introvert” are two different things. Shyness usually stems from some sort of past pain or fear that inhibits a person from being social for various reasons. You can usually fix shyness with practice and training. Introversion, on the other hand, is a personality trait you are born with. It is a trait that dictates how your bodies energy levels are handled in certain situations.

The Tail of 2 Best Friends

Introverts do not necessarily “fear” social interactions. They simply get physically and emotionally drained or exhausted from being in social situations for a period of time. On the opposite end of the spectrum, extroverts are drained while being alone and gain their energy by being around crowds of people.

To better explain this, I’ll use a real-life scenario.

Best friends, ExtraBob and IntroSusie, are invited to a party (ExtraBob is an extrovert and IntroSusie is an introvert, But you probably picked up on that). Both ExtraBob and IntroSusie are excited to attend the party because it is a “welcome back” party for their best friend, Greg, who is coming home from overseas. They can’t wait to catch up on old times and are looking forward to seeing a lot of their other friends.

ExtraBob and IntroSusie ride to the party together and talk about how excited they are to see Greg. Once they arrive at the party, they enter at the same time. Greg is standing in the middle of the room talking to those that have already arrived. As soon as ExtraBob sees Greg, he immediately throws his hands up in the air and yells at the top of his lungs, “GREG!!!! Let the party begin!!!” as he proceeds to wrap his arm around Greg’s neck as if he was putting him in a headlock. IntroSusie laughs and walks up to Greg giving him a big hug and lets him know how much she missed him and that she was glad he was home.

The three talk for a few minutes catching up and ExtraBob can’t help himself but work the room. He can only take a few minutes of small talk and he is off to a new conversation. Greg needs to go speak to others he has missed and IntroSusie takes this opportunity to scan the room and see if there is a small group of friends she can sit and talk with.

IntroSusie is not much for small talk and looks for a person she can have a deeper conversation with. She finds her good friend Ryan and they talk for hours it seems. Full of energy and having the time of his life, ExtraBob grabs the attention of the crowd and wants to express his gratitude toward his Best Friend Greg. IntroSusie loves the energy her friends have and enjoys being around them, but she would never dream of doing some of the things ExtraBob does.

As the party winds down, IntroSusie is feeling tired and is ready to go home. She looks for ExtraBob and asks if he is ready to go. ExtraBob is reluctant. He acts like he is just getting started and proposes that they stay longer. IntroSusie obliges and agrees to stay a little longer. She finds a quieter spot to sit and look at her phone. A little while later, ExtraBob sees his friend sitting alone and asks if everything is alright. IntroSusie says, “Yes. Of course. I am just tired”. “Okay.” says ExtraBob and they agree to head home.

As you could probably tell from this short story, both ExtraBob and IntroSusie enjoyed themselves at the party. They each had their own way of having fun and mingling with other people. Neither person “feared” being in the social situation. Neither, ExtraBob or IntroSusie, were afraid to show public affection toward their best friend when they first greeted him. But each had a very different way of doing it. You may have also noticed that after hours of being at the party, IntroSusie was mentally and physically drained from the interaction. She wanted nothing else but to be alone. ExtraBob was still at the top of his game and was reluctant about leaving. This is because they both have different ways of gaining energy.

An extrovert gains energy from being around people which explains why ExtraBob didn’t want to leave. They usually can’t stand being alone for very long. The act of just being alone drains them mentally and physically. An introvert, on the other hand, needs to be alone to gain back that energy. A prolonged amount of time around people will drain the introvert and they will soon be looking for a quiet corner to sit in, just like IntroSusie in our story.

Common Attributes between All Introverts

“Introvert” is not a term that defines you as a person. All introverts are different and we each have our own set of skills, talents and God-given Gifts. But all introverts do share common attributes which make them…well…introverted.

Introverts Hate Small Talk

Small talk doesn’t come easily to a lot of introverts. Usually, the thought of just talking about the weather for a few seconds is scary, or at least annoying. Introverts usually like to talk about deeper subjects. That doesn’t mean we have to talk about string theory or the point of human existence. We usually just want the conversation to feel sincere and small talk can sometimes feel disingenuous.

Introverts are Thinkers

Along with the fact I shared earlier about being drained in social situations, Introverts are very introspective. What I mean by that is, introverts have no problem thinking for long periods of time to themselves without saying a word. An introvert has no problem getting lost in our thoughts and letting our imagination take us to all sorts of places.

Introverts also like to think before we speak. We make our mothers proud because of it. This is one reason we don’t like small talk. Introverts have a constant internal monologue running. As we are in a group discussion, we are usually the quiet ones. Not because we are scared to talk, but because we are thinking about what needs to be said. We usually don’t just say it and hope for the best. Because of this, people really seem to listen when we speak.

Introverts Enjoy Reading

Introverts also have a tendency to be considered a “Bookworm”. You know, someone who is always caught reading. When an introvert is in need of some alone time, a lot will turn to a book in a quiet place. I believe this is because of our constant introspection. Because we are always thinking and dialoguing in our heads, books make a great escape from thinking and just allows us to enjoy the story.

I will confess that I am not an avid book reader. But I do need my alone time. In that alone time, I might not read books, but I do read articles, study, or listen to a podcast or audiobooks. I enjoy learning and am always looking for something new to know. So even though I may not enjoy reading a good fiction, I am still in a quiet space learning something I wouldn’t be able to if I were with others.

Why Should I care if I’m an Introvert?

As I said before, “introvert” is not a defining word for who you are. It is not a scarlet letter, so to speak. It is simply a term that explains a personality trait. Introverts come in all walks of life and can sit anywhere on the Introvert-Extrovert continuum. You might even have days where you slide up or down the continuum (though not far). It is good to be aware of your personality and really be self-aware of what drives you and what drains you. Once you know these things, life makes much more sense. You start to understand the certain emotions you are feeling at any given time.

I used to think there was something wrong with me when I didn’t want to go out into crowds and “have fun”. I never understood why I felt awkward with small talk and had such a hard time talking while in groups. But now that I am aware of what an introvert even is, I can forgive myself for not always wanting to be “social”. Also, I need time to process what is going on or being talked about. Now I understand that. I now know I need time to think before I speak. And because I know that now, I can use that time to actually process instead of worry what is wrong with me.

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What does it mean to be an Introvert? was originally published in Christian Introvert on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Writing is a hobby that I actually am very new at. In fact, I am so new at it, I wouldn’t call it a hobby but more of an experiment.

When I was younger, I never actually thought of writing as “fun”. It seemed to be a chore. Something that you only did for school assignments? I never felt creative enough to be a good writer. The words didn’t flow onto the page to easily for me. I had to put a lot of thought and planning into even the structure of my writing. The thoughts in my mind moved so fast, I would forget what I wanted to say by the time I thought I had my outline done. It was just a lot of effort to get it right, and I didn’t find that, “fun”.

Fast forward about 10 to 15 years and I have found a new love for writing. What’s the difference? Well, I found topics I enjoy writing about. And now I understand the importance of putting my thoughts down on paper and or online. I didn’t discover that until I found out I was an introvert. If that reason doesn’t make sense to you yet, keep reading and I will cover 13 reasons introverts enjoy and almost need, to write.

1. It is a Way to Escape

The one thing all introverts have in common is, they all need solitude of some sort. It is the very act of being around people that drain us. Whenever we are finally in our alone time, we need a way to escape the world around us. For most of us, it is writing that triggers our escape. When I am writing, it allows me to focus on the topic at hand and not the things of the world around me. It allows me to get lost in this idea and/or in this pursuit of something important to me.

2. We Enjoy the Alone Time

This concept of “alone time” builds off of point 1. Being alone is not a bad thing. A lot of people, especially those that are more extroverted, see being alone as an anti-social act. They might even feel bad for us. what they don’t understand is, our alone time is what allows us to be social. Without that alone time, an introvert will quickly drain and in turn will become anti-social. Writing permits that alone time in our life while at the same time giving us something productive and important to accomplish, whether it be for ourselves or somebody else.

3. We are Able to Put our Thoughts in Order

As an introvert, we always have something rattling around in our minds. It is just what we do. We can’t help it. Introverts are very introspective and can’t stop thinking. The trouble with that is, since we are always thinking about something new, we often forget what we thought about earlier in the day. And while we are thinking, it is not always in a order. If I were to lay out my thoughts on a table in front of you, you would be an incoherent mess of ideas.

As we write, we have the time to sit and process what we are actually thinking about. We have the ability to outline our thoughts and put them in a particular order that makes sense, not only to those that read it but to us. I know for me, writing things down validates that I might actually know what I am talking about. When it is in your head out of order, it makes you wonder if you have all the pieces. Writing our thoughts down lets us know if we have all the pieces or not.

4. It is Easier than Speaking

When it comes to speaking, I suck. It’s that simple. I suck at speaking. I used to think there was something wrong with me, but now I know it is due to my introversion. The point I made earlier, about the thoughts in my head looking like an incoherent mess on the table in front of you, yeah, that is why I can’t speak very well. My mouth doesn’t even try to keep up with my brain.

As I write and have time to process my thoughts, I can make sense of what is going on in my head. It is easier to write your ideas as an introvert because writing is slower than speaking. And the slowness is what we often need. Now I know what Moses meant in Exodus when he told God he was not eloquent and slow of speech.

5. It is a Time for Meditation

For anyone to write anything good, they need to slow down and meditate on what they have written. Meditate is another word for thinking or pondering at a deeper level. Slowing down and writing forces me to meditate on my thoughts and my actions. It puts me in a place of reflection that other activities can’t do. Usually, when I am writing, my goal is to write something that affects someone’s life in a positive way. since that is my goal, I really put a lot of thought into what is written. I always ask the question, “Is this true, and is someone going to learn or gain value from what I am writing?”.

6. It is a Way for Us to Debate

The reason this is true is because point 4 is true. Introverts are terrible at debating for the most part. Debate requires you to be quick with your words. It requires a person to be more reactive externally. When you are in a debate and you don’t have a rebuttal right then and there, it is assumed you lost or don’t know what you are talking about.

When an introvert is confronted with conflict or heated discussions, we tend to withdraw or shutdown from the situation. We don’t have that time to process what is being said so we can’t rebut in a way we feel will add value to the conversation. So we just stay quiet and let the conversation go on without us until we have processes what was said. As you may know, this is a bad debate tactic.

Continue reading this post at ChristianIntrovert.com for 13 Reasons Introverts are Drawn to Writing.

6 Reasons Introverts are Drawn to Writing was originally published in Christian Introvert on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

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I often find myself in my head, pondering over many different things. I seem to have more interests than a person can handle. I often have so many ideas, thoughts, desires and goals that never seem to come to fruition. I get lost in my own thoughts and honestly never share them with the world or even the people around me. I find it hard to talk to people, mainly strangers, but sometimes even those I am close too. People describe me as “quiet”. When talking to others I don’t want to get too personal, seem too weak or be too vulnerable. I don’t care for crowds and feel pretty good when I am alone.

But on the other hand, I’m a bit of a clown and a little goofy sometimes. I have a witty personality and have a sarcastic remark for just about anything. I can connect with just about anyone and I actually enjoy interacting with people. I’m the typical man when it comes to the love of beef, sports and fishing. I‘m even the loud parent on the side lines of my 5 years old’s soccer game (I hate losing). I can keep going on, but I’ll stop.

That is pretty much me in a nutshell. For the longest time I thought there was something wrong with my personality. I didn’t know why I was so quiet while wanting to say so much. Crowds, of any sort, make me nervous. I hated the fact I had a hard time carrying a conversation and I wasn’t good at small talk, which led to a lot of awkward silence. I over think every situation and plan every possible outcome of a conversation. I have more conversations in my head than I do out loud.

I struggled for a long time trying to figure out why I was the way I was. I thought I was weird. People seemed to be happier the more outgoing they were. They seemed to have life figured out. There was a sense of direction and purpose that flowed out of the loud, outgoing type. I wanted to be like that. Why couldn’t I be like that? Why couldn’t I just speak my mind when I wanted and not care what those around me thought? I often found myself wanting to be someone else. I wasn’t happy with who I was. Not that I didn’t like myself. I just didn’t like my personality. I thought it was weak and held me back in life. This bothered me to the core. It really put me into some mild depression sometimes to be honest. There were days where I just didn’t want to talk to anyone and was upset that I wasn’t doing what I wanted in life. I just knew I would be better off if I would just speak up and push for everything I wanted. But I knew that would never happen.

As a christian, it bothered me even more. I didn’t feel like I was a good christian because of how my personalty held me back. I was to shy to just “preach from the street corner” so to speak. I didn’t bring up Christ in every conversation and I didn’t argue with those who disagreed with Christianity. I thought after being saved I was supposed to shout from the roof tops and evangelize from a soap box on a busy street corner or just simply walk up to total strangers and tell them about the gospel. I felt like I was letting God down by being “quiet”.

That right there, is why I am starting the Christian Introvert publication. I no longer feel like the person I described above. I no longer get mad at myself for being a little more reserved at party’s. I don’t want to be that outgoing popular dude that is always the center of attention. I don’t feel my life is hindered by my personality and most importantly, I no longer feel I am letting God down because I don’t quote scripture and preach the gospel to every stranger I talk too. I have finally figured out who I am and why I act the way I do.

What started this discovery? About a year ago I came across a video on YouTube. It was a TED Talk featuring Susan Cain (I don’t think she is a christian. But I don’t know and it doesn’t matter). The title was “The Power of Introverts”. I am not sure why I clicked on it, but I think it has to do with some personality test I took a few years prior and I recognized the word “introvert”. Also, I might have been on a TED Talk binge (but that’s beside the point).

Now If you watched the video, I wasn’t like Susan in the sense of liking to read. Just not my thing. But I really enjoyed that part when she spoke on people admiring the character of man in the early days of America instead of their loudness (for lack of a better term). This video really got me interested in learning more about introverts.

Remember when I said, “I seem to have more interests than a person can handle”? Well a couple of those interests is serving and leading others. I really enjoy being able to make someones life a little better or a little easier. I get great satisfaction from giving advise on things I have experience with. This is where the publication comes in. I want to use this platform to encourage those who are questioning life and their purpose in it, in hopes of making your life a little better or a little easier to navigate.

I want to show christian introverts that there is a reason for the way God molded your personality and that there is a purpose for you being here on this earth. I want you to know, you are not alone. I truly believe each person is made to do something great and I believe introverts have a special superpower in order to get that done. We just need to build a certain amount of self awareness and get a little direction to make it happen.

Now, I am not much of a writer, as you can probably tell, but I am willing to put myself out there and get better at it, in hopes it will come across the screen of at least one person that needs it. I am no expert in the topic of introversion…. yet. But I am going to keep learning and applying.

“Don’t underestimate me because I’m quiet. I know more than I say, think more than I speak and observe more than you know.” ~ Michaela Chung

Thanks for reading and God Bless.

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Why I am starting the Christian Introvert Publication was originally published in Christian Introvert on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We get caught up in our own heads asking ourselves questions like, “Where do I even start?” “How do I know what it all means?” “How will I find the time to study?”. All these are valid questions and all these questions have an answer. That is why I put together this guide to simplify your Bible study and improve your spiritual walk. I didn’t only make it for you, I made it for myself to help me get the ball rolling in my life.

Before we get started, I would like to suggest you use the King James Version as your Primary version. I won’t get into the details (but definitely in a later post) here but that is what I believe to be original.

Follow the guidelines below to help you get started with your Bible study.

• Pray

This is the most important step you could take in your bible study. As you are starting your bible study, think about who’s book you are about to study. The answer to that is easy, Gods. Now if you are looking to get more out of a book, who better to get insight from than the author himself? Prayer is a direct link between you and God and a lot of people don’t realize the power in that. So, use this time to ask God for guidance, and to reveal himself through his word.

• Plan

This might be obvious but it is probably the last thing a Christian, especially a new one, will think to do. I mean, how are we supposed to have a plan if we don’t even know where to start? Well, I will tell you. Think of a topic you are interested in such as salvation, creation, marriage and so forth. After you select a topic…. Google it and find where to read about it. A lot of Christians feel like using the internet is cheating. I ask them, Why? It is no different than getting out the concordance or purchasing a study Bible. The internet is just tool. You just have to know how to use it.

If you are the type of person that needs a little more structure, I like to go to biblestudytools.com. There is a ton of resources there. There is also an app I started using a lot. It is called the YouVersion Bible app. It has pre-made reading plans and a bunch of other cool features you can use right from your phone or tablet. Don’t only plan your topics, plan on a time. Even 10 minutes a day can make an impact. What I have done, is wake up 30 min earlier than normal and use that time to read and pray. It is hard at first, but soon you will form a habit.

• Don’t go in with preconceived ideas

This step is critical. Because of the world we live in, there is a lot of preconceived ideas about scriptures in the bible. The world has twisted the word of God to fit its mold of what it feels is right. Gods word is forever and is truth. We can’t let our feelings get in the way of what God says is truth. As you read the Bible, read what is there and not what you think is there. Go into it thinking to yourself, “I could be wrong about something, so if I am, God show me the truth and allow me to accept it”.

• Get your definitions from the Bible

I heard a preacher once say, “If you don’t know what something means in the Bible, just keep reading. God will tell you exactly what he is talking about”. One little trick of studying that most don’t know is, the first time God introduces a new word or concept in the Bible, he always defines it. So, find the first time that word is introduced and read that passage. God will define that word.

• Validate Scripture with Scripture

This point kind of ties into step 3. It is crucial to understand that there are ZERO conflicts in the Bible. I have come across passages I felt conflicted with another passage in scripture. And guess what, as I study the topic in more depth, I see it was my preconceived ideas that were wrong all along. I was misunderstanding or was just plain wrong about the topic. If you come across a scripture you do not understand or you feel is a conflict with another part of scripture, take these steps.

-Read the passage in its full context. If that means starting in the previous chapter, do it.

-Find another book of the Bible that tells the same story. Compare them. (this is the validation part)

-Ask yourself, “who was the author talking too?”

-Pray and ask God for understanding.

• Write down your questions

This tip is short, but probably my favorite. Get a dedicated study notebook. I recommend a composition or spiral notebook. I don’t know why. I just like them. As you study, ask questions. As you think of questions, write them down and come back to them in later studies. This is also a fantastic way to come up with new topics of study.

• Apply it

This just might be the hardest part. It is easy to read a couple passages and feel like you have fulfilled your Christian duties. If we don’t apply scripture to our lives, the Bible just becomes another book on the shelf. Paul says in Philippians 4:9, “Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” Here Paul tells us to “do” so that God will be with us.

The only way to take your spiritual walk to the next level is to take action. Here are a few simple ways to start taking action.

1. We have already covered this but the more you read the more you will know what God asks of you.
2. You can’t know what to do if you don’t remember what you read.
3. I am not talking about the hippy meditation where you sit indian style, put your fingertips together and say “UUUMMM”. I am talking about digesting Gods word in a way where what you have just read sinks in. Psalm 1:2 tells us that the man who meditates is blessed.

Another easy way to start taking action is to surround yourself with other Christians. Preferably Christians who are further along in their spiritual walk. Once you do that, they will change your state of mind and be able to hold you accountable. One way to find like minded people is to join a Bible study group at your church. Make it a habit of making these meetings and I promise you will see growth in your daily walk with Christ.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. This just scratches the surface. But I believe it is a great start to get the ball rolling for new Christians or even Christians that have been out of the word for a while. You are not going to understand it all in one day. Heck, you aren’t going to understand it all in one year! That is the beauty of the Bible. After a lifetime of study, you will still learn from it. 2nd Peter 3:16 and Matthew chapter 13 prove the word of God is hard to understand at times. Jesus said that some people were given the mysteries of heaven and others were not. I believe those people given the mysteries are the active followers of Christ.

With that being said, God didn’t want his word to be complicated. He wanted us to know exactly what he was talking about. Just keep in mind that the word of God is eternal and that the Bible is the word of God. Therefore, it takes an eternity to understand the scriptures in full. Do not be discouraged when you come across something you don’t understand. Just think to yourself, “God will reveal it in due time”.

God Bless and happy studying.

How to Simplify your Bible Study to Help You Improve your Spiritual Walk was originally published in Christian Introvert on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.