The world revolves around words. Words create families through vows of marriage and can cause death through declarations of war. In court, words can free or convict defendants. Written and spoken words preserve history. If you consider computer code a language, its impact expands further by manifesting imagination into real-world actions. Words are ubiquitous, innumerable, and consequential.

Words certainly impact our relationships. The more important the relationship, the more weight our words carry. As Christians, our relationship with Jesus is the most consequential; therefore, the words that impact our faith have the greatest impact on us. We confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9). Others are saved when the Gospel is preached and heard (Romans 10:14). We were created (Genesis 1:26) by words and saved (John 1) by the Word—the Logos—the truth.

Now that we have established how important words are to our eternal salvation, what kind of words are you listening to? Which are you reading? As we think of Jesus—a Jewish carpenter who lived 2,000 years ago—can you imagine how many messengers have claimed His name with their words? How do we know which are true and which can lead us astray?

This is why the Bible is so critical: its words are eternally true. The Bible is the plumline by which all other Christian messages can and should be weighed.

The Bible’s words are so important that James, the half-brother of Jesus, cautioned followers how they were to teach them. James 3 warns that many people should not become teachers, “for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1, ESV) Why are teachers judged more strictly? The teacher is like a rider on a horse, whose bit guides the whole body (James 3:3). Indeed, by a teacher’s words, many will make choices that either strengthen their faith or weaken it. If our words have consequences on our own lives, then those of a teacher have an exponential impact through the lives of the students. Thus, the broader our impact, the heavier the burden and the larger the judgment.

Some teachers do not have honest intentions (2 Timothy 4). All teachers stumble in sin (James 3:2). Without something more eternal than a teacher’s words, our faith is precariously endangered by the whims of ourselves or others.  The Bible, then, is the source of truth that any Christian must revisit to ensure their relationship with Christ is sound, authentic, and personal.

Christians who claim faith but do not regularly read the Bible are living someone else’s faith. That’s not to say faith is pluralistic; instead, shallow Christians rely on others’ relationship with God as a proxy for their own. Would you consult your neighbor to interpret your spouse’s needs? How do we react when someone tells us how to perform our job? If we give up our role in our relationships or positions, they begin to belong to someone else. So it is with our faith; if our belief is only guided by Sunday morning sermons, then we lean on the pastor’s relationship with Jesus more than our own. If they are mistaken, so are we. This is a failing proposition.

Say what you may about the Bible’s accuracy on time, science, or history—there are compelling pieces of data across the board. However, the Bible stands true on faith matters despite all objections. The Bible reveals our purpose. The Bible shows us how unconditional love can be. The Bible offers guidance on humility, even within the world’s worst constructs like prostitution, slavery, and prejudice.

If we don’t read the Bible, we will not recognize the many ways God has and continues to love us. The words of the Bible prove God’s faithfulness and rebuke Satan’s words of doubt. Our study of God’s words reveals our commitment to our relationship with Him. We cannot have a relationship with the Father or Son without reading their words, and we have no other source for their words but the Bible.

Though character limits were a fad in our digital economy, those trends have all but reversed as we culturally appreciate the nuance and depth of our words. The Bible is not a short read because it takes time and breadth to dispel every incorrect rumor and disprove every false prophet thoroughly. Like any relationship to thrive, we must invest in it, at the expense of something else.

When we consider the immense scope of the cosmos, tiny words seem insignificant, yet, their impact on our lives is far greater than the largest star. While we marvel at majesty across lightyears, nothing influences our existence quite like words, whether from family, public personalities, or social media feeds. Of all the words that influence us, we must lean on the Bible’s most of all. 

The Bible is a cornerstone of our relationship with Jesus and, therefore, our salvation. Without the Bible to guide us in our faith, we are simply taking someone else’s word for it.

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