Eric Smith has a thoughtful essay here entitled “How Does Church History Help Me Read Scripture Faithfully?”. He argues that studying church history benefits us in three ways:

1. Interpretation. “Studying church history helps us interpret our Bibles . . . But if, by God’s grace, we can sometimes see further or see certain issues more clearly than they did, it is because we are standing on the shoulders of these giants.” His point here is that we need to always do theology in concert with the church universal and historical. We are foolish if we are theological lone-rangers.
2. Imitation. “We need flesh-and-blood models for how put that teaching into practice. Scripture itself tells us this: “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us,” Paul writes (Phil 3:17).” Scripture is adamant that we need to join ourselves to a community of believers in order to grow and thrive as Christians. In a sense we also join historical Christians and benefit when we study their history.
3. Inspiration. “We need the history of the church for inspiration. “Since therefore we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,” declares the author of Hebrews, “let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb 12:1).” We have the benefit of hindsight when we study church history and can see some things that were simply not available to those living it out. A historical view provides insight into the matchless plan of sovereignty of God.

As with Eric Smith, my own personal journey into church history has reaped valuable fruit. If you’re looking for a good historical resource (and a fascinating read), look no further than “The Story of Christianity (Volume 1 & 2)” b Justo L. Gonzalez.