Attitude in Reading

Our attitude will make a lot of difference in what we learn and/or understand from our reading.

Prideful Reading

Some people read with a purpose of proving that they are right in their (opinions that they call their) beliefs. They look for words and phrases that support their opinions. They disreguard or retranslate in their minds anything that may contradict their opinions. This may be so automatic or habitual that they don't even realize they are doing it.

Reading for understanding.

It takes a lot of work to think out what you are reading. Many people just read the words and don't think about the true meaning of what they are reading. Nor do their think about the implecations of the words they are reading in relation to their own opinions.

Transformational Reading

"be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only". There are many good books out in the world, the Bible being one of them.
Read carefully to try to understand what has been written. Use a dictionary and/or a thesaurus to look the meanings of words that you don't understand.
Rewrite out the passage(s) in your own words, according to your own understanding.

The reading is only of value if we put it into practice. In a way, the understanding is cyclicyle. We can't really do it unless we understand what to do. The other part is that we won't really begin to understand until we start to do what it says. At the beginning we will make many (seeming) mistakes. But, if we are open and aware, we will learn much in the mistakes that help us to succeed.