Is There A Better Way To Do Verse Mapping?
Have you tried verse mapping but wondered if you were doing it right? Maybe the thought crossed your mind that there had to be a better way to verse map.
Verse mapping is awesome. Of all the types of Bible studies I do, verse mapping is my favorite, hands down. I love the versatility, and how I can stop when I need to and pick right back up where I left off without missing a beat. Besides that, any study that gets us to slow down and linger longer with God is a win in my book.
After mapping for a while, I began to host workshops sharing the way I verse mapped. It was my heart's desire to teach other women a “new” way to study in the hopes that it would reignite their craving for God’s Word. In the workshops, it wasn’t unusual for the ladies to come to the table wanting to give it a try but felt intimidated. Without hesitation, I always encouraged them to just dive in since there wasn’t a wrong way to do verse mapping. It was their map, their study, so they could do it however they wanted.
In between our time together, I encourage the ladies to verse map on their own then bring in their maps to share at our next get-together. It stimulates our curiosity when someone shares what they have been learning and encourages us to make a go of it ourselves. But it didn’t take long before I noticed a trend; most of the women preferred to do topical studies instead of systematic, book-by-book, line-by-line studies. I began to feel convicted of telling them whatever they wanted to do was fine because there wasn’t a wrong way to verse map.
The Issue
At first, I didn’t realize it was an issue. I mean, at least they were in the Bible studying, right? When I asked about topical studies instead of systematic line-by-line studies, I was often given the same reasons; topical studies are easier and hold their interest. Besides, if they come across a verse that doesn’t appeal (for whatever reason), they can skip it and move on. Knowing most of the women preferred topical studies, even with knowing their reasons, caused me a great deal of concern.
I know not everyone reading this will have experience with various types of study methods so in case you aren’t familiar with a topical study, you pick a word or subject you are interested in and dig out a concordance (or use a computer app) to look up each instance that word is used in Scripture. As you gather your verses, you can compare them and get an overview of the subject. Many new Christians are encouraged to study topically rather than systematically.
The problem is that as we compile a list of verses with nothing else to compare them to we tend to draw our own conclusion, often making the verses say what we want them to say. The context of the verse is often ignored as irrelevant. That is a dangerous habit to get into and often leads to frustration and disappointment because we aren’t reading the Bible the way the Holy Spirit had it written (line-by-line, book-by-book).
Skipping verses because they make us uncomfortable and we aren’t sure how to deal with them is another issue of concern. As we studying Scripture, we should be convicted and uncomfortable. We can’t grow if we are complacent and turn a blind eye to our sin. Picking what makes us feel good while ignoring the rest is another dangerous habit. Right off the top of my head, I can think of two subjects that we like to skip in our studies; sin and obedience to our husbands. Sin is not a hot topic to study and nothing about confronting our sin makes us feel good. But the Bible directly confronts sin many times over. One way we women often sin is by disregarding Ephesians 5:22.
Anyway, if we skip the verses that make us feel bad, we are not studying biblically and will have a warped sense of who we are in Christ and who He is. However, when you choose to study book-by-book, verse-by-verse in a systematic manner, it forces you to stop and examine everything, even the conscious-prickling verses that you’d like to ignore (hello, Ephesians 5:22!). When you don’t do that, it makes all the other verses you are studying appear out of context due to missing pieces. It’s like reciting the alphabet and leaving a few letters out; it’s noticeable and uncomfortable; you want to stop and fix it.
Moving On
These are just a few issues of concern I have with choosing to primarily study topically as opposed to studying book-buy-book, line-by-line.
As a reformed topic-only Bible study gal, I spent over 20 years studying the Bible this way. I have quite the notebook collection of topics, their verses, and my take-a-way (what I learned and how I could apply it to my life) from each study. Recently I was cleaning my office and got side-tracked reading through those study notebooks. After reading them, I pulled out my binders (where I keep my book-by-book verse maps) and continued my trip down memory lane.
Friend, it was fascinating to see how far I have grown but it also saddened me. I spent years lacking confidence in my biblical knowledge. Yet, my collection of notebooks proved that I put time and effort into studying. It wasn’t until I began to read through my verse map binders that I could clearly see the holes left by my topical studies. No wonder I floundered talking about certain biblical topics! I just thought I was a terrible student and horrible at retention.
It was a true gift when the Holy Spirit led me to verse mapping and I began to break away from topical studies and focus on line-by-line studies. I began to see how things in the Bible fit together. Before I always felt like the verses were scattered puzzle pieces and I didn’t have the cover of the puzzle box showing me what things should look like. I had a general idea, but nothing I could put my finger on. But when I discovered systematic line-by-line studying, I felt like I could finally see the cover of the puzzle box with all the pieces just waiting for me. I stopped shying away from talking about biblical things and became more confident in what the Holy Spirit was teaching me.
Because learning to study this way had such a profound effect on me, I began to share it with others. Even today, I can’t recommend verse mapping enough. All too often I am seeing women with a distorted view of God and the Christian life due to only studying topically. That hurts my heart because I know it’s avoidable. You can bet that in the future I will change how I teach verse mapping. I will no longer encourage my sisters to do whatever feels right. I will encourage them to take one book at a time and work their way through the book, regardless of how long it takes (a month, 6 months, a year, 2 years) to complete.
Yes, it takes more time to dive deep and linger longer. There is no doubt expanding your study to include more than a few verses makes for a more intense study. But so what? Does your study have to be completed in 10 minutes or it’s ridiculous? Can’t you slowly, carefully, prayerfully work your way through a book of the Bible in multiple sessions? Nowhere does the Word say that you have to set aside an hour every day to study so does it really matter how long your study takes?
I’m in no way suggesting that we stop doing topical studies. They are still needed and a great way to gain a general overview of a topic. What I am suggesting is that we start incorporating verse-by-verse studies into our mapping and eventually get to the place that we do far more systematic studies than we do topical studies.
When you begin to move away from only studying topically and move towards a more systematic approach, you will gain so much more than you could imagine! You will:
Grow and become a blessing to others because you will begin to understand the things that had confused you in the past.
Discover Jesus in a way you had missed.
If you haven’t tried verse mapping, I pray that you will check out my post on the subject and give it a try going line-by-line. If you have been doing topical verse maps, I pray you will consider my advice and change up the way you study.
