Christians love taking Bible verses out of context.

Now, you might be like, “What the heck are you talking about, Willow?”

Well, I’ll give you an example:

Jeremiah 29:11, possibly one of the most quoted Bible verses.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭11‬ ‭NIV‬

I love this verse! It’s a great one. It’s a verse of hope and peace and a sense of knowing that everything will be alright.

Well, if you didn’t know, this verse is to the Israelites…while they’re in exile. So life is really sucking for them right now. They had been moved from Jerusalem to Babylon—and it was not their home. They were confused—what happened to the promise from God saying that all that stuff about them being His children and chosen people?

This verse was told by the prophet Jeremiah (but they were words from God) to encourage the Israelites. To say, “Hey, God’s not gonna abandon y’all.”

And we (Christians) love to snatch up this verse and plop it into a “Sorry for your loss” or a “You’ve graduated!” or a “Get well soon” card. (I am very guilty of doing this.)

Now, that’s not to say that Jeremiah 29:11 is a non-quotable verse! It’s a beautiful reminder. But a lot of people don’t know it’s context.

A lot of people like to do this for the verse in Leviticus that says this: “Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord.” Leviticus‬ ‭19‬:‭28‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(I have a post about that here.)

Again, that’s not to say that it’s a bad verse or not true! (It’s not either of those things!)

But we take it out of context and slap it in people’s faces saying, “Yup, see? Says so in the Bible. I’m right and you’re wrong. No tattoos or else you’re a sinner.”

(Fun fact: you’re a sinner whether or not you have tattoos.)

So. When you read a verse, look at the context of it!

You might give someone an encouraging verse about being beautiful…but really it’s from a quite descriptive chapter in Song of Songs from a lover to his beloved. (Song of Songs 4:7)

(I’ve also done that.☝️😅)

Taking verses out of context is something I’m really good at doing, and I do it a lot. And I’m working on it.

Taking them out of context doesn’t mean it’s not the right verse, but it will likely make more sense if you explain why you are using a certain verse for a certain topic.

I hope this was helpful! Thanks for reading.💛

~Willow