"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17
The Bible is inerrant, authoritative, and perfect. We will not be able to truly get to know God apart from reading it in its entirety. It is dangerous to overlook parts of the text as unimportant or inferior to another. All the verses create a unified thought, which should not be downplayed. God's Word is alive and active, meaning we will relate to and glean wisdom from it differently at different times of our lives. God's Word is a gift to be received daily, and His teachings are applied to our lives. When we make it a habit to read the Word daily, our relationship with God grows, and we start to discover treasures of knowledge in the Bible we may have underrated as He reveals the Truth to us. All of Scripture is valuable. Here are five underrated Bible verses to bring fresh encouragement to you today.
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"I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done." - Philippians 3:7 NLT
The Apostle Paul wrote, "But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ" (Philippians 3:7). This often underrated Bible verse is one of my favorites. It is often lost in the shuffle of the rest of Paul's Letter to the Philippians. This is a great misfortune because it is a truly beautiful verse of the Bible.
Philippians 3:7 informs us that Paul considers all of his previous gains to be losses for the sake of Christ. He doesn't glorify the things he used to do, such as being a persecutor of the faith or having a high place in society. Instead, he considers all of those things as losses. Paul does this because he knows Jesus is far greater than anything he has ever earned, gained, or accomplished.
In our lives, adopting a similar attitude benefits us greatly. When Jesus is the center of our daily lives, we avoid unhealthy priorities that distract us from God and become idols (Exodus 20:4-5).
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"Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me." - John 14:24 NLT
This passage paints a picture of what it means to love Jesus. In John 14:24, the Lord says, "Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me." This is part of Jesus' discourse to His disciples. Prior to this statement, Jesus said that anyone who loves Him will obey His teachings, the Father will love him, and they will make their home with them (John 14:23).
This passage is sometimes underrated because it contains some hard truths to digest. The Lord tells us plainly that anyone who does not love Him will not obey His teachings. Instead, they will follow their teachings, desires, or perhaps society's.
Jesus also says that the words He speaks are not His own—they come from the Father. Everything we read in the Bible is important, and though some truths are difficult to understand, He is faithful to place people and resources in our lives to help us relate them to our daily lives. Loving the Lord is not done with words alone. Instead, it is done in action and truth. We display our love for Jesus when we follow His commands. Take heart! We all fall short (Romans 3:23), but the effort of our hearts matters the most to God.
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"For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever." - Lamentations 3:31 NLT
The prophet Jeremiah, writer of the Book of Lamentations, witnessed severe suffering across the nation of Israel in his lifetime. Despite his experience, Jeremiah maintained his hope in the Lord. This is apparent in the very familiar verses that preceded this underrated one:
"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning." - Lamentations 3:22-23
When we look at Jeremiah 3:31, we feel the Lord's encouragement through Jeremiah, who wrote that no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Even when we are in hard and trying seasons of life, we can turn to this encouraging word for a fresh hope that it will not last forever. Things will get better, if not here on earth, at home with our Father in heaven for every believer in Christ Jesus. God does not cast us off because the desire of His heart is to bring us back to Him through Jesus.
Israel was known for always going astray, serving false gods, and worshiping idols. Sometimes, God would give them over to their sinful ways, but He would always welcome them home. The same is true for our lives. No matter how far gone we might think we are, we are never too far from God. He will forever welcome us home and restore us. Just as Jeremiah trusted that nobody was cast off from the Lord forever, we can trust that God will always be there for us. The Lord doesn’t want us to live estranged from Him.
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"The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters." - Genesis 1:2 NLT
Genesis 1:2, a sometimes underrated verse of the Bible, tells of creation. The Holy Spirit hovered over the waters, clearly present from page one of Scripture, the same as Jesus. Christians believe in the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three in one.
The Holy Spirit is the second member of the Trinity, not a different being, thing, or force. Instead, He is the third member of the Trinity; He has all the attributes of God and emotions and feelings. Genesis 1:2 gives us an amazing glance at the Holy Spirit and our Triune God! Not only does it tell us about creation, but that the Holy Spirit was present in creation. attesting to His divinity and uniqueness.
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"So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority." - Colossians 2:10 NLT
The Apostle Paul wrote in the verse previous to this often underrated verse that in Jesus, all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). This helps us understand that just as the Lord is fully God and fully man, we also are given fullness in Him.
We are not little gods, nor are we half god and half human. Rather, what Paul wrote is that we have been given fullness in Christ. We are good enough for God because of Jesus. Never again do we have to fear the fact that we all fall short (Romans 3:23) or lack anything because, in Christ, we are complete. He makes up for our lack and so much more! When we fight the lie that we are not good enough or that our lives are lacking, we can hold on to this truth in Paul's Letter to the Colossians. The truth is that we have been given fullness in Christ.
These commonly underrated verses teach us more about God, our relationship with Jesus, and even ourselves. As Christians, we are to live in constant contact with God through prayer and His Word in order to cultivate a rich relationship with Him. When this lifestyle becomes habitual for us, our conversations with the Lord grow deeper, as the Bible is the main way He communicates with us. Remember, His Word is alive and active. He meets us right where we are at and desires a relationship with us because of His unending love for us.
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Originally published Thursday, 21 March 2024.