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When I first started reading the Bible...

I wrestled with questions about the Holy Spirit. The Word pushed me out of my pre-established understanding of God. The Christian faith is not only about your past and your future—your past issues being dealt with and your eternal standing before God—though it would be worth it if it was just about that alone. For me, it is much more personal—dealing with my "today" also. Studying the Bible made me realize…something had to change.

Jeremiah 17:9 says…

"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" (NLT)

That, I resonate with! I speak from experience—reading the Bible brings conviction to our hearts. It helps us see where our thoughts, feelings, and actions have strayed from God’s good design. The Word leads us to turn our lives towards Christ in those areas.

This can be challenging at first—change is hard. God's Word may feel like a sword cutting into your life, disrupting places of sin that felt very comfortable and familiar. The sword of God’s Word does not work to destroy you but rather to free you. It cuts into our hearts like a skilled, loving, and gentle surgeon. When the Word pierces your heart, be encouraged. God is removing all that leads to death, everything that's decayed—so that you can be fully alive and free!

Reading scripture is going to help you.

It'll help you change course whenever you’re on a path towards destruction. It'll light up your path that leads to life. Habits of sin that poison the heart may take a while to break, but reading the Bible will help you recognize them. Through the power of His Word, God is strengthening you. Scripture is an essential tool in the gradual process of becoming healthy, whole, and free.

Right and wrong will become clearer—like you're looking through a pair of glasses, and you'll notice your desires and thoughts changing. That’s good! It’s evidence of God’s truth at work in your heart! New, God-inspired desires will sprout up as fresh inspiration strengthens you to live in God's will.

The more you listen to His Word, the more you're going to know that God is good. Knowing that God is good changes everything! One day at a time, the power of God’s Word will work in you—that’s a promise—and your life will be transformed. So, friend, let God’s Word reveal your heart today.

Let's pray:

God, as You reveal Yourself through Your Word, show me the places in my heart that need to change. Form me with Your word. Help me grow in understanding who You are. I want to be shaped by Your truth, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.