Have you ever heard someone say, “Such and such a verse is my ‘life verse'”? It’s a trend that has become popular over the last several years.
I think people’s hearts are usually in the right place when they embrace the idea of a life verse. They want to cling to God’s word and have it govern their lives, and that desire is good, godly, and biblical.
The concept of a life verse isn’t biblical, though. The Bible doesn’t say anywhere that we’re to choose a particular verse as our life’s slogan or mantra. There might be times in our lives when a particular verse is especially meaningful, but Christians are people of the Book, not people of the verse. Paul speaks about proclaiming “the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27) Psalm 119:160 says, “the sum of Your word is truth.” Psalm 139:17 declares: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!”
The Bible can’t be boiled down to one verse. We need all of the Bible for all of life, not one life verse. So let’s make sure we’re doing the hard work of studying the entire Bible and applying it correctly to the various situations that arise in our lives.
Michelle Lesley 