We’re familiar with what it means to “put the cart before the horse.” We know the horse is supposed to lead the cart, not the other way around.

When it comes to studying the scriptures, there can be a temptation to “put the cart before the horse.” Our beliefs are to be led by, or determined by, the scriptures. But sometimes people let the meaning of the scriptures be led by, or determined by, their existing beliefs.

Simple, easily understood scriptures can be twisted to fit a person’s preconceived ideas.

Peter wrote of our beloved brother Paul who “also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There a]re some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” (II Peter 3:15-16)