Bible reading

It seems people like to have discussions on whether reading the Bible daily is important. The argument against it would be that since this is a relationship with God instead of a religion to read the Bible out of guilt or obligation turns Christianity back into a religion instead of a relationship. While I would understand and agree with that (Bible reading shouldn't be done to appease guilt or done out of duty), there are other reasons to read the Bible. In my opinion the Christian life needs to be one of victory - in thought, words, and actions. Since words and actions ultimately only project our thoughts to the world, the battle needs to ultimately be won in the mind. That is where the "should's" of guilt, the "what if's" of fear, the blame, shame, and other negative mindsets attack. The only cure to the lies that this culture, the enemy, and our own previous negative mindsets is the truth. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. -John 8:32 (if I remember right). The interesting thing is the word know is the same word as the know used when talking about intercourse in the Bible. The truth and us need to literally become one. If the Bible is the very definition of truth than to omit reading it, will eventually wither and dry us from truth. And isn't that what John 15 is all about? Jesus is about ready to die and is with His disciples in the garden (of gethsemane?) with one last little bit of wisdom to impart. What does he talk about? The analogy of how fruit only grows on a tree as it stays connected to the tree. Branches on their own shrivel and die. "Apart from me you can do NOTHING." But yet why do sermons focus on doing good works. To try to conjur up good deeds on our own can often be quite hard, because it isn't natural. Fruit doesn't naturally grow on branches that aren't connected. But abiding in Christ it is far more natural because it is no longer us using God, but rather God using us. There is quite a difference. One of the main ways of connecting to the Lord by relationship is through reading the Bible with application to our lives. That application helps us to walk in truth, rather than the negative mindsets that destroy. Make sense?