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There are so many voices out in our culture and even in the church. How do we discern what the truth is? It’s a careful study of God's word. How does one study it carefully?
We use what is called hermeneutics—which is simply the method of biblical interpretation. It means we don't just ask "What does this piece of Scripture mean to me?" but rather, "Who is the author and who is the audience and what did the author originally mean to their audience?"
The best way to go about this is to look at the context of Scripture. It's helpful to examine the history, the culture, and especially the surrounding verses "in context" to understand the true message of the selection of Scripture. One has to be careful not to just take out a single verse because then it could be made to mean anything. But when we keep it in context with the multiple verses before and after, it keeps us on track to its true meaning.
For example, if someone wrote a personal letter to a friend 100 years ago and we found it today, it would be improper to twist or swap their words to match our modern slang or political climate. To truly understand the letter, we have to ask: who wrote this, who were they talking to, and what did they mean? Scripture is no different. This shows we actually care what the author said and meant rather than making the Bible say what we want it to say. A dangerous way to interpret Scripture would be to use a lens of what you think is the truth and then look for verses to prove it, without careful study of the context, history, author's intent, and the setting of the original listeners.
Furthermore, studying Scripture isn't always about extracting a timeless moral application; sometimes it's about properly understanding what the author revealed about future events. To map out that future accurately, we have to look closely at the dialogue itself—examining what the author explicitly said, what they chose not to say, and how they directly responded to the immediate questions of their listeners. This careful study, including looking up definitions of the original Greek or Hebrew words, is absolutely crucial. When we truly dig into what God's word meant then, we can accurately understand His plans and apply His unchanging truth to our lives today.