The truth is none of us approach the Bible without some sort of filters or baggage. We attempt to balance that by both seeing the joy in our backgrounds and learning from other perspectives (denominational, cultural, those raised outside the church and those raised inside the church).

I'm so thankful you find joy in your background and how it affects your approach. This is exactly what I mean--understanding how your background affects your reading and allowing that to bring joy rather than frustration.

I was raised in the church, and I also find joy in how I approach reading the Bible because of the heritage in which I was raised.