The Bible is written for believers by human authors who were believers (not discarding divine inspiration). Therefore, the authors include themselves in the truth claims and promises of Scripture. 3^rd person pronouns, “we,” “us,” and “our” are purposefully, through divine inspiration, used to include all believers. The family of God is a corporate body.

As believers reading the Bible today, we are included in those wonderful “we” truth claims and promises. However, in the midst of hardship and heartache, we tend to read ourselves right out of the rich promises that God means for us to cherish! When our faith is weakened through doubt, worry, and anxiety, our fleshly thoughts work to pull us out of the text and create and “we” and “them” scenario with Scripture. We think, “Well, that’s true for them, but that’s not true for me.” We can too easily fall prey to that lie we tell ourselves.

One helpful tool to fight the fight of faith when doubt raises its ugly head is to personalize those corporate passages. We’re already included in them, so making them personal is not abusing the text, it’s helping us apply the text!

For example, Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” When we read that absolute, objective, unqualified, propositional truth claim regarding God’s disposition toward His people – if we are in a trouble – it’s difficult to see that we are included in that “our”! So make it personal. Think of the very trouble you are in and read, “God is my refuge and strength, a very present help in my trouble!”