Means of Growth: Bible

The Word is of crucial importance for spiritual growth. It is also, for many Christians, the most neglected means of growth.

Neglecting the word will always eventually result in a complete stunting of spiritual growth, according to 1 Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5. These passages clearly teach that there is no such thing as a mature Christian who is "not accustomed to the word of righteousness." In other words, no amount of prayer, fellowship, or spiritual experience can make up for a deficiency in the our understanding of God's Word.
Deficiency in the Word affects our experience with other means of growth. For instance, anyone who is shallow in the Word cannot minister properly, or pray as they ought (John 15:7)
To receive the intended benefit from Scripture, readers must "handle accurately" the word of truth. In other words, sound interpretation must proceed application. Devotional readers may feel no need to do background study or careful exegesis, leading to improper impressions of what a text means.

For these reasons, the Christian leader must teach clearly on the fact that learning the Word is not optional in the Christian life.

Study the following passages and distill the interpretation and application of each.