Bible Study for Jehovahs Witnesses
Bible study with love should be a given. But, Jehovah's witnesses and other honest hearted ones who are searching need to be Forewarned. Not all religious organizations allow this type of freedom. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. I wish I had been forewarned several years ago when my husband and I accepted a "free at home bible study" from a friendly couple who knocked on the front door. They were a very nice couple and we enjoyed the talks we had with them. They seemed to have the right answer for all of our never ending questions. We enjoyed our studies with them and soon we were attending their meetings. (I myself had grown up as a Jehovah's Witness and my husband had also attended meetings as a child with his mother.)
We liked the friends we met there and the fellowship very much. One day, however, we realized that we were having doubts in the organization itself and all of our deeper questions were not getting answered. We were told "it will come, just keep studying". We also came to notice that we spent less time reading the Bible and much more time reading and studying the organizations literature it produced. How could reading Jehovah's witness material be more important than the Holy Bible I wondered. Plus the fact that we had no idea who was writing and publishing the literature that we had accepted as the truth for several years now. But, we kept studying.
I felt I knew the Bible quite well now after studying it with my new friends. But, I was starting to see that I really only knew a few verses well and that I had never read the whole Bible in context chapter by chapter. We were encouraged to do weekly Bible reading but with three children, and my full-time job I only managed to only prepare the questions and answers that were given us in the magazines. The few times I did try to read the Bible on my own I never got very far. So, I decided it was time for me to read and study the Bible for myself, on my own even if it meant I was not always prepared for the meetings. This way I could decide if I was living up to my spiritual potential and serving God in the best way possible and
teaching my children correctly. This was very important to my husband and I.
At this time we had been associating with our bible study group for several years and I did not agree with all of the organizations teachings and interpretations. This left me in a very hard position because questioning the organization's authority and interpretation of scripture was not encouraged! to say the least. Leaving the group would mean losing a lot of friends and possibly family members. Some of my clients were also in the same organization and I may lose them as well. It was a very frightening and stressful time. But, after several weeks and much family discussion and prayer we decided it was best for our family to continue to read and study the Bible at home for ourselves. We felt that after we did this we could make a better informed decision on who we should fellowship with. We had been told by the elders in our congregation that their organization alone had the answers and the truth and told us that we were making a mistake. Reading the Bible at home will not bring you accurate knowledge. They said we needed the faithful and discreet slave if we were going to get anything out of our Bible reading and that leaving their organization was the same as abandoning God Himself. Despite these threats and hurtful comments we proceeded on our own. We reasoned that if we pray for God's help and His holy spirit that He would help us. For He says that He is near to those who call on His name. We were determined to do as Peter says to make our election sure. I used Rick Warren's book on Bible Study to help get the most out of the Bible for myself. You may find it helpful as well. He lists several ways to get the most out of it. Very encouraging.
