What Men Think

Here is a great example of why context is so important when studying the Bible. Unfortunately, there are "scholars" who will take Biblical texts and piece them together in a manner similar to my video. I often hear people quote a single verse and think to myself, "that is not what the verse is talking about." It's like Robby's comment at the end of my video about the scales being tipped in his advantage. He did say that exact phrase, just like the Bible might say, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." (Phil 4:13) But in context, Robby was not saying he is more attractive than his wife. In fact, he was describing how blessed he is because his wife is more attractive than him. Similarly, there is a context to Paul's comment at the end of Philippians. Paul is describing his ability to live in spite of negative circumstances, an ability enabled by the strength of God. He did not write to motivate athletes, nor to simply encourage Christians to persevere while doing any random task. No, Paul wrote a testimony of praise to God for sustaining him during times of trial. Of course, theologically speaking, someone may well say that EVERYTHING humans do is by the strength of God, because he causes hearts to beat. But, the point is, it is not fair to the author of any words, written or spoken, to take those words out of context.