Belief 2 — How We Study: Eat, Digest, Grow

We eat the Word, digest it, and God makes us grow.

Here’s how we study, alone or together. Think of it as a meal in three movements.

Eat it — read, re-read, and retell. Reading it again is chewing; telling the story back in your own words is swallowing. If you can’t retell it, you haven’t swallowed it yet — so read it again. This “retell” step is the test that you actually understood, and it comes before any questions. Most people, even seasoned Christians, don’t grasp a passage they’ve read once, quickly.

Digest it — then ask four simple questions: What does this show me about God? What does it show me about people, and about me? Is there a command to obey, an example to follow, or a promise to trust? And who will I tell? Out of that comes a specific, dated “I will…” — never a vague “I’ll be better.”

Grow — and here’s the freeing part: God gives the growth, not you. “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6–7). We eat and digest; He makes it grow — into faith for the day, clearer sight, and the push to go.

Scripture — 1 Corinthians 3:6–7 (ESV)

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

Recite it: We eat the Word, digest it, and God makes us grow.

Reflect & do

Take a short passage this week (try Mark 1:16–18). Read it twice, close the Bible, and retell it out loud before you answer a single question.