Consistently spending time in God’s Word is essential to spiritual growth. There are a variety of ways to do this, depending on what your goal is. There is no one way to do Bible study that fits everyone and every season of life. What is effective for you in one season of life may not be effective for you in another. Find what works best for you in your particular season of life.
One thing I like to do periodically is a character study. Often, there is someone in the Bible who stands out to me. It may be because I can relate to the character, or I want to follow his or her example, or I want to avoid his mistakes. Sometimes I just want to learn more about him or her.
A character or biographical study is a form of topical study. The topic is the character himself. Character studies can be enriching as you look at someone’s life and learn from his or her lessons and how God worked.
I’ve provided a character study worksheet on my Free Resources page to walk you through how to do a character study. Begin by choosing a character you want to study. If you don’t have much time, you might want to take a character like Mary (mother of Jesus) or Silas or John the Baptist. If you have more time, you might consider Barnabas or Mary (sister of Martha and Lazarus). Some characters have such a large portion of Scripture devoted to them that you may want to limit your study to a particular phase of that person’s life. An example would be the prayer life of Paul or the desert experience of Moses or David’s childhood before becoming king. The possibilities are endless.
Character studies are a great way to dig into God’s Word. Let Him teach you through the lives of others.
For more resources to help you grow spiritually, check out Building Your Spiritual Toolbox, Volume 1 and Volume 2.
