Context

We must read and study a whole passage, a whole chapter, a whole book, the Bible as a whole.

How many times do we base judgement on a snippet of a conversation, one line of an email, or a solitary social media post? Then we find out that what we thought we understood is only a partial truth and much more breadth and depth of understanding is needed. These all-too-easy snap judgments seem to find their way into our Bible study as well. We flip to find a verse to make our circumstances seem better. We recall part of a Bible story from the recesses of our mind to justify a choice. We try to meet an immediate need without grasping the whole truth of what God is communicating.  These things are easy to do, but they will not help us understand the Word of God. We must read and study a whole passage, a whole chapter, a whole book, the Bible as a whole. Then we will have proper context and can grasp the whole picture of how God is communicating to us.

For some great examples of common Bible verses taken out of context, this article hits some good ones.