II Timothy 2:15 "Study to shew thyselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." What does this verse mean? Let's break this verse into pieces and find what God is trying to tell us.

"Study"
The dictionary meaning of the word study is "The effort to acquire knowledge, as by reading, observation, or research." Please notice the word "effort" in the definition. Effort means to actually try, you can't just read the Bible and not get anything out of it and expect to become a great christian. It takes effort and hard work, thus the second definition of "study" which is "Attentive examination or analysis." You need to examine the scriptures and put some thought into what you're reading.

"To shew thyselves approved unto God"
After you examine the scripture you need to apply it to your life. I Timothy 4:15 says "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all." We need to 1. Study the Bible, but we also need to 2. Meditate on what God's trying to tell us. Both II Timothy 2:15 and I Timothy 4:15 tell us to apply the Bible to our lives so that we show others how christians are supposed to act. As christians, we strive on God's approval. Our one and only desire should be to please God, and we can please him by showing others the wonderful lives we live with a Heavenly Father.

"A workman that needeth not to be ashamed"
This means from Hebrew "That cannot be put to shame."Have you ever known someone who hates what they do? Are they ashamed of their job? Is it because they think they could be something more? We are servants, or workers, of Jesus Christ. When we follow God and do the two things listed above, we won't be ashamed. Proverbs 10:5 "He who gathers in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who brings shame." He who works will not be put to shame, but he who has a sluggish hand will be humiliated. 

"Rightly dividing the word of truth"
Obviously the "word of truth" is the Bible, but what does "rightly dividing" mean? The Good News Bible communicates this part of the verse as "one who correctly teaches the message of God's truth." We just finished talking about being a worker, but there's more to being a workman than not being lazy. Mark 16:15 "And he said to them, 'Go ye therefore and preach the gospel to every creature.'" Our responsibility as christians is to preach to everyone in the world, and we must preach the word correctly. Meaning, we must use the verses that we preach in the correct context.