Say it! with Courtney Doctor
Today we’re chatting with Courtney Doctor about regularly rehearsing the truths of God’s Word. Courtney is an author, Bible teacher, frequent conference and retreat speaker, periodic blogger, and Coordinator of Women's Initiatives for The Gospel Coalition. Her greatest desire in all of this is to be able to faithfully study, apply, and teach the word of God and help others to do the same. We pray that this conversation with Courtney causes you to reach for your Bible however you can, whenever you can today!
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
When did you really come to understand the importance of renewing your mind with truth (as Romans 12:1-2 encourages us to do)?
What does it mean to set our minds on the things of the flesh and to set our minds on the things of the Spirit?
Why is it important that we regularly rehearse the truths of God’s Word? How does that transform us?
How does the Lord use the Word to bring about our sanctification? What does our path of sanctification normally look like?
How does Scripture speak a better word than the cultural mantras of our day?
The Bible tells us that out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. How can we gauge what’s in our heart? And how do we have transformed hearts that desire the commands of the Lord, like the Psalmist does in Psalm 119?
How can we come to know and love the Bible in a way that helps us to really keep it on our lips, as Scripture encourages us to do?
For teachers (even through teaching in an informal capacity like discipleship or motherhood), how can we know and love the Bible in a way that helps us encourage others to do the same?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“Our knowing is what informs our doing and our being.”
“Who we are and what we do is really shaped by what we know. What I do and who I am is a direct result of what I know and what I believe.”
“God doesn’t want to just improve me and make me a better person, he wants to transform me.”
“We will not be transformed into the image of Christ if we’re not renewing our minds.”
“We have to learn who God is, what he’s done, what he’s doing. As we learn more about who he is, he’s going to increase in us godly wisdom, he’s going to increase godly character, and we will be able to discern his will and his mission.”
“The Spirit of God is so faithful to take the Word of God and apply it to the lives of the people of God.”
“Live out of what you know to be true about God today. But also realize that you need to day by day build that foundation.”
“Setting our mind on things of the Spirit means that we are going to think about all things with the mind of Christ - through a Kingdom lens.”
“What is God doing in me? What is God doing for me? What is God doing through me?”
“Scripture tells us that the Word of God is our sword; we need to wield it every day. It tells us it is food that strengthens us; so we need to consume it every day. There will never be a day in this life that you and I do not need to know and rehearse and believe God’s Word.”
“Let the Word of God have the final say over all of our thoughts, over all of our feelings, over every perspective that we have.”
“As we put the effort in to tell ourselves, to say it to ourselves and then to believe it and cling to it, what we will start noticing is that you and I are going to start reacting in new ways to old challenges, and that’s transformation. And it’s not going to happen if we’re not preaching the gospel to ourselves every single day.”
“Sanctification is the process that God takes us on after he saves us of conforming us more to the image of his Son, of working out the truths of his salvation.”
“Many of us can tend to think that reading God’s Word is the end game… but no, reading is the beginning. While we read it the Spirit of God is at work applying it to our hearts.”
“Sanctification is never a straight path, but it’s an up and down with a general trajectory of moving towards godliness. It will never be complete in this life, but it’s the journey God calls us to walk on to know him more, to love him more, and to resemble his image more faithfully.”
“Truth is not arbitrary; it is a fixed thing. Truth rules over us, we do not rule over truth. Truth changes us, we don’t get to change truth. If the Bible is true truth, it is the unchanging, always-true Word of the living God. He is the one who spoke all things into existence, he has spoken true words, he is the one who knows you, knows me, knows what we need, knows what is good for us in all situations. Ultimately, we have to submit our opinions and our thoughts and our truths (even the ones that sound so good to us) to his Word and let the Word of God truly have the final say on all things. We don’t get to pick and choose to believe it only when we like it.”
“At the end of the day we either submit to all of God’s Word as truth or we submit to none of it.”
“Every mantra needs to be submitted to the eternally-true, magnificently-true Word of God.”
“Our words are going to be one of the best gauges of the conditions of our heart.”
“If we want to love the Word, we need to know the Word.”
“Pray: Ask the Lord to give you that love
Then: Be obedient. Read the Word, study the Word, and then do it expectantly.
Don’t expect the love and the joy to precede the obedience.
Study the Word. Memorize the Word. The love and the joy will come.”
“The love and joy come as we obey and as we spend time in the Word.”
“Tell people about your love for God’s Word. Tell people what’s sustaining you.”
“Don’t get so caught up in teaching the truths that you neglect to show how the truth has changed you.”
“Love the Word of God in a way that others will want that kind of love and will only find it in the Word of God.”
RESOURCES MENTIONED
From Garden to Glory by Courtney Doctor
In View of God’s Mercies by Courtney Doctor
Read it, See it, Say it, Sing it! by Hunter Beless
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
SIMPLE JOYS
Having access to God’s Word in my native language
Singing the words from Scripture
Sitting under teachers who love the Word
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Why is it important to regularly rehearse the truths of God’s Word? How does that transform you?
How has the Lord used the Word to bring about your sanctification?
How can you come to know and love the Bible in a way that helps you to really keep it on your lips, as Scripture encourages us to do?
How might you know and love the Bible in a way that encourages others to do the same?
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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