Do you want to get started studying the Bible, but are easily overwhelmed by the methods, resources, and process? That’s okay. Doing a character Bible study is a great way to learn to study the Bible without the stress. In fact, it can be quite fun.

In general, a character Bible study involves taking a deep look at the lives and stories of people in the BIble. This allows you to follow a person on their individual journeys of faith and see how you relate to them.

People in the Bible aren’t always the heroes we expect, but they offer valuable lessons and insights that can foster our spiritual growth and help us experience the Bible in way that makes it come alive like never before. So, let’s see exactly how to do a character study in nine simple steps.

Step 1: Select Your Character

Obviously, the first thing you are going to want to do is to choose the person you want to study. This can be someone that resonates with you right now or someone you want to know more about.

Consider reflecting on your own spiritual walk with God to guide your choice. Has there been a person in the Bible that you feel you’ve related to or been inspired by? Here are just a few people you can choose,

• Adam and Eve: The first man and woman created by God, placed in the Garden of Eden, experienced perfection, but lost it due to their sin.
• Noah: A righteous man living in a wicked world who made an ark to survive a global flood in obedience to God.
• Abraham: A father of many nations, called from his home and into a deep relationship with God. A life of many trials and enduring faith.
• Sarah: Abraham’s wife who was with Abraham throughout his journeys.
• Moses: Raised in Egyptian Palace, but fled to escape punishment for murder. Called by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery, received the 10 Commandments, and guided the people through the wilderness.
• Samson: Judge of Israel with superhuman strength who freed the people from bondage, later lost his strength due to poor life choices and behavior.
• Gideon: Judge of Israel who freed the people from bondage with a small army and dependence on God.
• Deborah: Judge of Israel who helped free the people from bondage.
• Ruth: Faithful daughter-in-law who demonstrated loyalty and love, becoming the great-grandmother of King David.
• David: Shepherd turned King, known for his courage, victories, and flaws, including defeating Goliath and the infamous incident with Bathsheba.
• Solomon: Wise King and builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem. His later years are marked by spiritual decline.
• Ahab: A wicked King and strong military leader, who persecuted prophets.
• Josiah: A good king how brought religious reform to the people.
• Daniel: Prophet and advisor in Babylon, known for his faith, interpreting dreams, and survival in the lion’s den.
• Jeremiah: Known as the weeping prophet, he ministered during the fall of Jerusalem and the people’s captivity by Babylon.
• Job: Righteous man who suffered greatly, testing his faith and illustrating God’s sovereignty.
• Isaiah: Prophet of God who warned the people of coming judgement and offered hope to those who survive. Known for his vision of God’s throne room and Messianic prophecies.
• Mary (Mother of Jesus): Chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus, demonstrating humility and obedience to God’s plan.
• John the Baptist: Prophet who prepared the way for Jesus, emphasizing repentance and baptizing in the Jordan River.
• John the Disciple: Known as the beloved disciple, he was one of the closest disciples to Jesus during his earthly ministry, the author of the fourth gospel, and the only disciple at Jesus’ crucifixion.
• Peter: One of Jesus’ disciples, known for his impulsive nature, denial of Jesus during his trial, and eventual leadership in the early Church.
• Paul: Former persecutor of Christians turned missionary, authored many New Testament letters and played a vital role in spreading Christianity.

There are many, many, many more people you can choose from in the Bible. People with different backgrounds, genders, and even roles. This diversity can offer new perspectives on familiar stories.

I’d recommend you start with a person who interests you. For example, if you are a fan of war movies or heroes, then consider going with a military leader from the Bible. Someone like Joshua, Gideon, or David for instance.

Like I said, start somewhere that interests you. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to the doing a character study and makes it more fun and engaging as you are learning how to do a character Bible study.

Step 2: Contextualize the Character

Now that you’ve chosen a person to do a character Bible study on, you’ll want to contextualize the character. In other words, get a big picture idea of their story in the Bible.

To do this you’ll want to look at the historical and cultural context of their story, their role in the overall story of the Bible, and key events that shaped their life.

Historical and Cultural Context

We want to begin getting a basic understanding of the person’s story in the Bible. So, take some time to answer the Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? questions about their life.

For example, say we are going to do a character study on Abraham. Well, we can ask,

• Who is Abraham?
• What did Abraham do?
• When did Abraham live? Who lived at the same time as Abraham?
• Where did Abraham live? Did he travel? If so, where too? Where are those places on the map?
• Why did Abraham do what he did?
• How did Abraham ____? (Fill in the blank: travel, eat, etc).

Answering these basic questions helps us gain a big picture understanding of a person in the Bible before we dive deeper into their lives. It helps us see what challenges they may have faced and the world they knew.

Role in the Story of the Bible

We also ought to look at the role of the character’s story in big story of the Bible. What’s unique about people’s lives in the Bible, and really our lives today, is that they are not about us. Rather, they are about the story God wants to tell the world through us.

So, we can look and see how the story of our character fits into the larger story of the Bible. For our example about Abraham, we can see how other people talked about Abraham, what they thought about him, and how his story and life impacted their own story and life.

Key Events

Now is also the time we want to identify key events in the character’s life and see how those events shaped the persons spiritual growth and personal development. How did these key moments change, for better or worse, the person you are doing a character Bible study on?

For our example with Abraham, we could look at such events like his: call to leave his home, his sojourn in Egypt, his promise of a child, and his willingness to sacrificed his promised child.

Step 3: Study Scripture References

This third step is to study the scripture references of the person you’ve selected to do a character Bible study on. Now, chances are while you were doing the second step, you’ve probably done this one too.

Simply, create a list of Bible verses that feature the character you selected. The easiest way to do this is to use a concordance or the search feature on a Bible app. If you want to use a concordance, but don’t know how, then check out this article that will walk you through using a concordance step by step.

Once you’ve compiled a list of verses, begin to read and study them. Break down specific passages and see what motivated them to make the decisions they made. Begin to look in more detail at the character’s actions, thoughts, and interactions.

Now, here’s a little tip: if you are using a study Bible, then don’t be afraid to explore the cross-references. These are links to other related verses that the Bible editors feel can help you better understand and gain a broader perspective on the passage. It is extremely helpful in deepening your character analysis.

Step 4: Examine Character Traits

Now that you’ve begun to study the Scriptures during your character Bible study, it’s time to begin analyzing and examining the character traits of the person. Here we are going to look at the person’s virtues, vices, strengths, weaknesses, values, and motives.

Below is a chart you can use to help you examine the character traits of the person you’ve chosen to do a character Bible study on.

Aspect	Description	Ask Yourself…	Example
Virtues	Positive qualities exhibited by the character.	How do these virtues reflect commitment to God?	Compassion, Patience, Humility
Vices	Negative qualities exhibited by the character.	How do these vices present challenges to faith?	Pride, Greed, Envy
Strengths	Notable strengths and capabilities of the character.	How do these strengths contribute to God’s purpose?	Leadership, Courage, Wisdom
Weaknesses	Areas where the character struggles or exhibits weakness.	How do these weaknesses shape their journey?	Impulsiveness, Fear, Lack of Patience
Values	Core values that guide the character’s decisions.	How do these values align with biblical principles?	Integrity, Love, Justice
Motives	Underlying motives that drive the character’s actions.	How do these motives reflect their relationship with God? (In a negative or positive way)	Love for others, seeking God’s glory, seeking own glory

As you are beginning to explore the character traits of the person, it is important to consider how the resonate with you. How do you see these traits manifest in your life? Take some time for personal exploration and opportunities for growth.

Step 5: Explore Character Relationships

The fifth step in doing a character Bible study is to explore the character relationships. Now that you have an idea of the character traits of the particular person you are looking at, you are going to want to see how those traits affects the relationships of the character to other people.

So, begin to investigate their relationships with others in the Bible. Look at friendships, family ties, enemies, and interactions with other biblical figures. How do these relationships contribute to the character’s spiritual and personal growth?

For example, let’s go back to Abraham. We could look at the following relationship dynamics:

• Abraham – Lot
• Abraham – Sarah
• Abraham – Pharaoh
• Abraham – Hagar/Ishmael (This one is really interesting, and surprising!)
• Abraham – Isaac
• Abraham – God
• Abraham – Abimelech
• Abraham – Eliezer

How do these various relationships influence Abraham’s spiritual journey? In what ways did they bring him closer to God? Further from God?

As we investigate the character’s relationships with others, we should strive to draw parallels to our relationships where appropriate. The nature of relationships, how the work, and what affect they have has not changed.

We can bridge the gap between these ancient stories and our lives today. Why? Because relationship dynamics are largely timeless.

For example, Abraham and Sarah were husband and wife. They went through a lot together. But there were times when Abraham encouraged Sarah to lie. There were times when Sarah was bitter and angry with Abraham. But through it all Abraham and Sarah remained together and faithful to God.

Today, husbands and wives go through a lot together. There are times of joy and anger. The ups and downs of marriage are nothing new. Husbands and wives can remain together and faithful to God. We see in the story of Abraham and Sarah that it is God’s promises and faithfulness that makes it possible.

Step 6: Identify Lessons and Morals

Step six is to identify lessons and morals from the character’s experiences. As we do so, we can relate them to our own issues and challenges and apply them to our life. This guarantees we experience the Bible in a way that leads to us living biblically.

Now, it is important to note that people’s lives in the Bible are more than fables with moral lessons to be learned. There are universal principles that they learned and we can learn from them. Often these principles relate to God, humanity, or the world we live in. So, we can ask some helpful questions,

1. What does this person’s story reveal about who God is?
2. What does this person’s story reveal about who we are?
3. What does this person’s story reveal about God’s desire for people?
4. What does this person’s story reveal about the world we live in?

Answering these questions helps us discover the universal principles about life that is revealed in the life of the person we are doing a character study on. Then we can take these principles and apply them to issues we are facing today, we can use them for our own personal and spiritual growth.

Step 7: Reflect and Journal

As we are going through our character Bible study, it can be helpful to reflect and journal. We can reflect on our own lives in light of the person we are studying, and be open to learn from them and their relationship with God.

Journaling can be an important spiritual discipline that can help you see yourself and your relationship with God more clearly. In fact, studies have shown that spiritual journaling can deepen our connection to what’s holy, help us explore beliefs, and offer guidance and direction in life, and so much more.

Here are some simple prompts and ideas to help guide you as you reflect and journal on the life of the character you are studying,

• How does the character’s faithfulness to God inspire or challenge your own commitment to faith?
• Reflect on the challenges the character faced. How can their experiences contribute to your personal growth?
• What specific lessons have you gleaned from the character’s story, and how can you apply them in your life?
• Identify the virtues exhibited by the character. How can you cultivate these virtues in your own character?
• Explore the character’s struggles and moments of redemption. How do these moments resonate with your own journey?
• Examine the values guiding the character’s decisions. In what ways can you align your values with biblical principles?
• Consider the character’s weaknesses. How can you learn from their experiences in overcoming similar weaknesses in your life?
• Evaluate the character’s relationship with God. How can you deepen your own relationship with the God based on their example?
• Consider how the character’s actions impacted those around them. How can your actions influence and inspire others positively?
• Utilize your journal for prayer. Seek guidance and inspiration for your personal journey, using the character study as a source of reflection.
• Express gratitude for the insights gained during the character study. What specific aspects of the character’s story are you thankful for?

It is good to pause as you go through each step and reflect and maybe even journal if you want. This will help deepen and enrich your character Bible study. It will have a more meaningful impact on your life. Honestly, it can help you befriend these people in ways you haven’t thought of before.

Step 8: Remember the Gospel

The eighth step in a character Bible study is to remember the gospel. We discussed earlier how these people’s lives are more than just fables with morals to learn. We can and should learn more from our character studies than just a plate of virtues and behavior differences.

We should ultimately seek to discover God’s involvement in the character’s story. Doing so, reveals to us ways that God is at work in their lives and how He can work in our lives as well. God is sovereign, both in the lives of the biblical people we study as well as our own lives.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:18). Who God is back then is the same as who God is now. How God worked back then is the same as how He works now. God’s power and presence transformed peoples lives then and does so now.

So, it is wise for us to not only look at the character attributes of the person we are studying, but see what we can learn of God and His story – the gospel, as well. What attributes of God are revealed through this character’s story? What is God telling us about Himself through their life?

If you want to know some specific virtues of God to look for, then consider checking out this post. It is a quick Bible study on God’s nature and character, discussing His attributes, the gospel and so much more.

Step 9: Apply Learnings to Life

The final step in a character Bible study is to apply everything we’ve learned to our life. And just like the person we’re studying had a life long journey with God, our applying of what we learn is a life long journey. So, how do we apply what we’ve learned to our circumstances?

We can take elements from the character’s story and find similarities in our own lives. For example, Abraham was told by God to sacrifice Isaac. Now, Isaac was the one thing Abraham wanted in life, he was the key to God’s promises to Abraham. But Abraham had to give him back.

So, we can ask ourselves, what is something that we’ve really wanted in life, something that God has given us, something that is good, that we have yet failed to give back to God? Are we holding on to the promises of God more than we are the hand of God?

To help us apply these universal principles to the circumstances and situations of our own lives, we can look for ways to take actionable steps. Set realistic, achievable goals, and follow through.

Key Takeaways

Let’s summarize the steps of doing a character Bible study,

• Select Your Character: Choose a biblical figure to study based on personal interest or spiritual leading.
• Contextualize the Character: Explore the historical and cultural context, understanding the character’s role and key events.
• Study Scripture References: Compile and study relevant Bible verses to delve deeper into the character’s motivations and actions.
• Examine Character Traits: Analyze virtues, vices, strengths, weaknesses, values, and motives in the context of the character’s journey.
• Explore Character Relationships: Investigate the character’s relationships, drawing parallels to timeless relationship dynamics.
• Identify Lessons and Morals: Discover universal principles from the character’s experiences to apply to contemporary challenges.
• Reflect and Journal: Use journal prompts to reflect on personal connections, growth opportunities, and insights gained.
• Remember the Gospel: Recognize God’s involvement in the character’s story, identifying attributes of God through their narrative.
• Apply Learnings to Life: Apply insights and lessons from the character study to personal circumstances, setting realistic goals for ongoing spiritual growth.