Does the Bible Have Practical Value in Our Day?

Have you perused the self-help section of your favorite bookstore lately? Perhaps you have a question about safeguarding your mental or emotional health. Maybe you've been struggling with your family life, wishing it could be happier. Or have you wondered about improving your chances of finding and keeping steady employment?

Countless authors with innumerable opinions, to the point of being exasperating, address these concerns, along with a host of others. If you're looking for a book to deal with mounting stress, why, the search for competent and well-informed subject matter on this topic can be a source of stress in of itself!

If you've asked yourself the above questions, or any other question relating to the quality of your life, did you find a practical answer that truly worked? In the United States alone, the sale of so called self-help books tops 500 million dollars per year. You are certainly not alone in seeking advice on how to deal with the issues of everyday life.

Much of the advice that is contained in these books merely regurgitates or repackages what has already been written. And many of the issues that confront humanity today, although different in the way they play out, are the same core problems that our ancestors had. Indeed, such troubles and their solutions are echoed in one of the oldest books in the world. This book is by far the world's most widely distributed publication. It has been translated in whole or in part into some 2,400 languages. In total, more than 4.6 billion copies have been printed globally. It is God's word, the Bible.

Can be Bible be used to address the dilemmas facing modern day society? Or is its advice and wisdom simply too old, too outdated and too irrelevant to have a meaningful impact on our lives today?

Before we can answer those questions, let's lay a basis for the authority of the Bible by scripturally considering the Bible's authorship. In the second book of Timothy, Chapter 6, starting at Verse 16, we read that "All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work."

Although the Bible was written by some 40 individuals over a period of 1,600 years, it is a harmonious book of writings. That is because its real author is God. So the wisdom and guidance as found in the Bible is not simply the estimations and outlooks of imperfect men, it is the counsel of a wise and loving God.

Granted, the Bible was not written as a self-help manual. The primary purpose of the Bible is to reveal God's will for mankind. Even so, the Bible does have much to say about how to cope with the problems common to us all, and it promises that those who follow its direction will learn to benefit themselves.

Consider Isaiah 48:17 and 18: "This is what Jehovah has said, I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself, the One causing you to tread in the way in which you should walk. O' if only you would actually pay attention to my commandments!' Then your peace would become just like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea." When heeded and applied, its practical counsel always works, regardless of a person's ethnic, cultural or educational background.

Let's consider a few issues that we may be facing in today's world, then we'll examine the advice that the Bible gives. One of the most important distinctions between secular knowledge and the wisdom as found in the Bible is that although worldly knowledge can aid those already in distress, the Bible's advice helps a person to avoid the mistakes that can make life unnecessarily difficult.

Take the use of alcohol as an example. Does the Bible even have anything to say on the subject? It does indeed. The Bible does not condemn the moderate use of alcohol. The apostle Paul pointed to the medicinal benefits of wine when he advised young Timothy: "Use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent cases of sickness." (1 Timothy 5:23) The cardiovascular benefits of a glass of red wine each day are only recently beginning to be touted. Other Bible passages show that God intended wine to be used for more than just medicinal purposes. Wine is described as making "the heart of mortal man rejoice." (Psalm 104:15)

But the Bible also warns against the misuse of alcohol. It states at Proverbs 23:20 and 21: "Do not come to be among heavy drinkers of wine, among those who are gluttonous eaters of flesh. For a drunkard and a glutton will come to poverty." Other texts support the moderate use of alcohol. If a person follows this God-given advice, then abuse of alcohol would no doubt be minimized. The Bible doesn't give coping strategies for an alcoholic; it simply warns of the dangers in simple terms that would prevent a problem from even occurring.

What of other unsafe habits, like smoking? Does the Bible give any guidance on this? Centuries before smoking became fashionable and then became a recognizable health hazard, the Bible, at 2 Corinthians Chapter 7, Verse 1, said that those who want to please God must follow the command to "cleanse themselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit." The Bible doesn't contain the word "cigarette", but knowing full well what smoking does to your body, knowing that tobacco kills over five million people annually, can it not be said that smoking is a defilement of one's flesh? Truly it is, and is not the Bible based advice sensible in this matter?

Less readily accepted is what the Bible says on sexual matters. Contrary to what many have been led to believe, the Bible does not prudishly condemn as sinful all sexual desire. The Bible book Song of Solomon is graphic in it's depiction of physical love. But the Bible does provide sound advice on human sexuality.

For example, the Bible teaches that sexual relations are reserved for a man and a woman only, who are married to each other. (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6; Hebrews 13:4) The Bible defines the purpose of sex and gives good counsel on how it should be expressed. (1 Corinthians 7:1-5) Regarding sexual promiscuity, the Bible commands: "Flee from fornication." (1 Corinthians 6:18) The Bible also gives counsel to married individuals (Ephesians Chapter 6), and individuals who choose not to marry (1 Corinthians 7:8, 9).

It even dispels the man made notion of priestly celibacy. 1 Timothy 1:1-3 in part says that "in later periods of time some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired utterances and teachings of demons, by the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, forbidding to marry." Religious groups circumvent this by saying no one is "forbidden" to marry. It matters not if the view is expressed as dogma, doctrine, or a priestly requirement. The very notion of it is identified as being a sign of hypocritical, apostate teaching. Ask yourself this sobering question: How many young children would have been spared sickening sexual abuse had clergymen been allowed to marry and express their sexuality in a normal manner?

What results when the Bible's advice regarding sexual matters is ignored? Teenage pregnancy, AIDS, broken marriages and abortions, just to name a few.

The same guidance and principles can be found in the Bible on almost any subject matter. Gambling, the use of blood, medicine, hypnosis, internet, discrimination. The list goes on.

Does it surprise you that a book as ancient as the Bible contains counsel that is relevant today? The reason that the Bible has endured when so many other books have become irrelevant is that it contains, not the word of men, but "the word of God." (1 Thessalonians 2:13) And indeed, we certainly need all the Divine help we can get! God tells us, at Jeremiah 10:23, that it does not "belong to man who is walking, even to direct his step." As stubbornly as mankind plows ahead with our spindly decision-making, God knows that we need him, even if we do not realize this truism ourselves.

You are encouraged you to take time to become better acquainted with God's Word. Apply the counsel offered there, and see it guard you from harm and help you to improve your life. By doing so, you will "draw close to God, and he will draw close to you." (James 4:8) No other book can help you in such a way.