Something that should be habitual in the Christian should be reading the Bible. However many Christians (including myself) struggle to read it daily, and the times we do, we risk interpreting the Bible to suit our needs and desires (Chan, 2011), instead of taking the text as it is (a process called exegesis).
Here's a few tips I have learnt over the years to avoid misinterpreting the Bible (a process called eisegesis). [I'm no theologian, nor church elder, but these are the tips I use to read the Bible.)
1) Never just read a Bible verse
The great temptation for lazy Bible readers is to take a single or a few verses and assume that is the summary of the whole passage. One thing to note is the demarcation of chapters and verses were not in the original text, and added later for easy referencing (Jones, 2007).
For instance, if one were to only read Ecclesiastes 1, one might think the Bible advocates nihilism, and everything is meaningless. However, upon reading the whole Ecclesiastes, one will realise that summary of the book is that if God did not exist, that life is meaningless.
As my friend remarked, "a text out of context is a con."
2) Reason it out
It is often argued that Christians accept things by blind faith. In fact, I heard some people argue that the Bible promoted cannibalism based on a passage in John 6:25-59. However, let's be reasonable-- (A) none of the Apostles practised the eating of human flesh and (B) none of the first-century Christians ate human flesh. Furthermore, other references to the eating of flesh and drinking of blood referred to the Last Supper (eg: Matthew 26: 17-30).
So yes, do not be afraid to apply reason to Scripture, and Scripture to reason.
3) Compare notes
Sometimes it's good to find out how our friends, church elders and pastors interpret the passages. There's also a wealth of resources online, such as Theology Network and Gospel Coalition. The library also might have some good books to check out. (I usually reference my posts, so there are recommended texts to check out).
4) Pray
Above all, pray. The temptation (as I mentioned) is to misuse the Bible as a tool and symbol of authority to for our own ends, We need the Holy Spirit to guide us, convict us on our next step and always remember to look to Christ.
References
Chan, F. (2011) Erasing Hell
Jones, T.P. (2007) Misquoting Truth
For further reading (recommended)
Never read a Bible verse
