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The title of this article is how I first realized I didn’t know how to read the Bible. I could quote it, I could tell others what I was told it said, but I didn’t know how to understand what was being said, and more importantly I often had no idea why something was said. I was guilty of eisegesis, a fancy way of saying “using a Bible verse without any real thought to what it meant when the author wrote it.” So today, let’s briefly discuss one of the most ignored words in the Bible: therefore.
Down to the dictionary
In college, I learned to abuse the English language for all it was worth. When the professor wants a 3-page paper, do you really think I’m putting words like “can’t” or “isn’t” anywhere on that page when I can stretch them into 2 full words? I do not think so!
Likewise, I learned how to throw out bigger words to replace much simpler words, so much so that I became a bit jaded by reading them elsewhere, subconsciously marking them as “extra padding” without consideration for why they were used. An unfortunate victim of my lazy essay writing was the word “therefore.” So before we continue this, we need to look at what the word actually means, and why it’s so important.
In its most basic sense, the word simply means “for that reason.” It serves as a nice transition to take us from a writer saying something, and then explaining what that means or why we should care. Think of the word “therefore” as a magnifying glass, taking a bigger idea and zooming in to an important aspect of it. It says “We’ve discussed a big truth, now here’s why it matters.”
What it matters
If “therefore” is our signal that something important is being clarified, we should immediately stop and ask ourselves “Do I know what is being clarified?” Often times, we don’t. We read the verses, hang them on our walls, quote them as an encouragement to ourselves and others, but we can assign almost any meaning to them when we don’t know why those words were said.
Consider some popular Bible verses that begin with “therefore,” or a similar version of it (so, thus, etc), and ask how often you’ve heard them used without someone explaining what was said before. The Bible is filled with them, but here are 3 verses that would be great to practice with:
- The Golden Rule: In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)
- The argument against tattoos and McDonalds: Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1)
- The general call to avoid bad things: Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
On their own, these verses give good principles: be kind to others, treat your bodies well, don’t be immoral. However, they’re all there because of something that was said previously. It’s not just a command to be kind, but instead, Christ is saying “Because of _____, treat people how you want to be treated.” Likewise, our desire to respect our bodies and pursue holiness needs to begin with whatever important thing was just said.
Try it yourself.
- Read what comes before Matthew 7:12 and figure out what our motivation is for treating others how we want to be treated
- Go to Romans 12:1 and figure out everything Paul said before this that made him conclude that we should present our bodies as a sacrifice to God
- Check everything before Colossians 3:5 to get a better understanding of why we should be dead to these sinful things.
None of us question whether these verses are good and right. But when we understand the “why” behind making them a part of our lives, then our Christian walk becomes less about our actions and more about the motivations behind them.
If there’s one thing we must always remember, it’s that God doesn’t just care what we do, but also why we do it. Therefore, it’s important to understand what motivation we should have for doing these things. So whenever you encounter this word, take time to answer one of the most important questions we can ask in our Bible reading: What’s the “therefore” there for?
