To me, choosing your favorite Bible verse is a lot like choosing your favorite child. You love all of them, but for different reasons. And yes, sometimes some of them get on your nerves.
I grew up in a church where we memorized creeds, not scripture, read our prayers out of the book of prayer. I was in my early 20’s when I joined my first Bible study. There one of the members asked for prayer to find a babysitter, as she was returning to work after the birth of her child. Feeling certain that there is no prayer for a baby sitter in the book of prayers, I asked her, “Are you sure we allowed to pray for that?” She shared with me what became my favorite Bible verse, Philippians 4:6 which says, “in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
As I learned more about God as the parent I never had, I came to love 1 Peter 5:7, which clearly states, “he cares for you.” I finally had a parent that really cared about me, and a new favorite verse.
Life continued, and with it many trails associated dealing with a mentally-ill, alcoholic mother, but I was still felt the joy of the Lord. When people asked me how I did it, I shared my new favorite verse, Phil 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice.”
When I felt distressed, Psalm 31 became a favorite, reminding me to trust in God even in my distress. When I struggled with guilt over my past, I clung to 2 Cor 5:17, which says I am a new creation. It seemed no matter what was happening in my life, I always had a favorite verse to mirror it. That’s because (as Hebrews 4:12 notes) “the word of God is alive and active.”
The Word of God is living, and He has a verse for us, wherever we are in our life. Whether we are rejoicing or mourning, there is a verse for u;. (and there is a verse for that actually in Ecc… a time to mourn and a time to dance…)
So whether you have 1 favorite verse, or 100; Whether you always keep the same favorite verse, or like me your favorite verse changes regularly, remember that God gave us His word, because he loves us and wants to be there for us no matter what we are going through.
What’s your favorite verse?
Kelly Combs is a Christian wife, mom, writer and speaker. You can learn about Kelly by visiting her website at www.kellycombs.com
4 comments:
What a beautiful post! I, too, have found that my favorite verse can change. It used to be Eph 2:10, this was when I was praying that God would show me who I was in Him. For the last several years, however, my favorite has been Psalm 46:10: "Be still and know that I am God". Just reading that verse fills me with such peace in knowing that God is...well, God! He is in control, and I can be still and rest in Him. Thanks, as always for such a great post!
I love the Word of God...what comfort, what encouragement. I love the WHOLE THING!!! :)
Yummy!
I love the book of Isaiah. There is so much encouragement in there. I read it when life starts to get heavy, and it always brings me out of the pit.
Its hard to pick a favorite verse, I think it depends on my mood and whats going on in my life sometimes I need certain verse.
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