2 Timothy 3:16-17 says:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man (or woman!) God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
As men and women of God, it is a great privilege and joy to be able to read the Bible together. This can be as part of a group as a church, small group, one-to-one or individually. Each method brings its own unique advantages.
Examples of discipleship in the Bible:
Jesus, whilst ministering to large crowds and many, he elected twelve to be his disciples to witness his life and additional teachings (Mark 4:10-34). Even amongst the twelve, he sometimes singled out James, Peter and John for additional interactions (Mark 14:33).
Paul often took other young men to disciple on his missionary journeys, most famously Titus and Timothy.
Who?
Once you have been convinced by the importance and need to make one-to-one encouragement a part of your life, the question may be… whom do I do this with?
- Pray first to ask God to guide you on the decision
- Anyone you want to encourage or be encouraged by
- Of the same gender
- Be bold and ask!
How?
- Make a time commitment (one a week or fortnight)
- Agree to an end point. Even if you decide to continue after this end point, it gives clarity to what you’re committing to. This can be a month, until the book of the Bible that you’re reading together
- Make sure to include a time of prayer
- Make sure to read the Bible! Seemingly obvious, but if the reason why you’re meeting is to read the Bible, get to reading the Bible!
What do we read?
There are endless amounts of options! Start off by reading a book of the Bible, preferably a NT book to start off with. Once you’re in a regular pattern, the possibilities are limitless, including Christian books, a journal article by a famous theologian and harder books of the Bible that you aren’t brave enough to tackle on your own!
Useful Resources:
- One-to-one: A discipleship handbook by Sophie De Witt. A book outlining the how’s and why’s of reading the Bible together.
- Pathway Bible Guides: series of Bible studies for different books/topics of the Bible with questions to aid thinking on the passage/topic (www.matthiasmedia.com.au)
Have fun!
Reading the Bible one-to-one is one of my favourite parts of being a Christian. There is no other word to describe the joy of learning about God together with another brother or sister in Christ.
