A recent major study on reading ability of adults in America found that 40% of adults read at a basic reading level or under! If we are not readers, we cannot be leaders! In my own reading, I learned that a majority of the wealthiest people in America read an average of one book a day!
It would be interesting to take a poll of all believers in God to see how many read one scripture a day, or a chapter a day, or a book in the Bible in a day. In my nationwide counseling for the past 25 years, I find the minority are daily consumers of the Word of God. This is manifested in their walk with God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Reading out loud to self is an amazing way to build faith – by hearing and heeding God’s Word.
On my computer, I use a grammar app that corrects writing in different programs. It sends a weekly email report on one’s writing activity. The report says almost weekly that my vocabulary is 97% greater than other users of the same program. Why? The answer is because I have been a reader since a young child.
For me, there is never a stopping place in learning in all areas of life. The more I know, the more I realize I do not know. Life is never boring when one develops a desire to learn. The more we use our brain it renews itself to healthiness. I do not plan to slow down my reading and learning. I desire to learn, to change, to grow in all areas of life even in my 70th decade of life!
I have known and read about many people who did not have a great formal education but impacted their world because they were voracious readers – especially leaders in early Christendom in America. They devoured God’s Word and God blessed with His wisdom that they shared with others that impacted lives for eternity.
My father was a man of God that read and studied insatiably. He was a self-educated deep theologian and Eschatology preacher/teacher. He was born in 1910. He made it through 8th grade then had to quit school to help his parents support their family of ten. He received the Holy Ghost in 1925 at the age of 15. He was blessed to sit under the ministry teaching of Bishop GT Haywood from teenage through his 30’s.
When God called my father to be a pastor at age 45, he had been a student of God’s Word for 30 years. He spent hours daily in the Word and prayer. His teaching was impactful to all ages. His enthusiasm stimulated by God’s Word flowed out to the hearers. In his elder years, he taught Eschatology at Christian Life College in Stockton, CA for six years. The students loved his teaching. I’ve had students or former members of his church contact me through Facebook telling me how much they enjoyed my father’s teaching of God’s Word. That deeply touches my heart because I was blessed to be a recipient of his wisdom, knowledge, love and enthusiasm of God’s Word. (Rev. Raymond G. Theobald 1910 – 1995).
As long as God gives me life, I choose to continue to read, learn, and grow spiritually, emotionally, relationally and educationally. Reading and learning are not dependent upon one’s monetary worth. For me, it is my desire to become a better person in every area of life so that in all I do I can reflect God’s wisdom through teaching, counseling, and writing for His glory! I pray this impacts your life to be challenged to learn, grow and change for the glory of God! We all minister to those our life encounters beginning in the home. Our home life is where our true character is revealed.
As parents and grandparents, we set the example for our children and grandchildren’s educational pursuits. I believe that technology of computers, iPhones, iPads, TV, etc., have been a hindrance to cultivating reading and learning. Technology invading our homes has created a hunger to be entertained by something instead of the hunger to learn. I’m thankful for the positive benefits of computer technology for writing methods and learning if we use it wisely. But modern technology must be used with a healthy balance.
What I see happening in Christian homes is the battle to preserve special time with God and family in reading His Word, Bible discussion and praying as a family. Everyone is busy with individual iPhones, IPads, etc.; there is no time for God’s input into our lives. When we do not cultivate reading His Word together, the devil will devise a way to influence hearts away from God with entertainment that has no value.
It is our choices in life that will dictate our eternity. I want my children and grandchildren to be saved. It is God’s Word that will cultivate the hunger and thirst for more of God. Readers of God’s Word will create leaders in the family, the church, the community, and the world.
© Carol Clemans – www.carolclemans.org – read ‘about ministry’ page regarding my nationwide teaching and providing counseling by phone/Skype/FB message video – (636) 448-0121. Watch teaching on Carol Clemans YouTube channel. FB: LIFE ENRICHMENT MINISTRIES, INC. teaching videos, FB: Carol Theobald Clemans. Instagram, Linked-In, Google+. Ministry Ref: Pastor Daniel Batchelor, Dupo, IL.