Learning to Love the Bible

As someone who grew up in a Christian household, the Bible was an important part of my life from early on. I have many memories of my dad teaching me verses and psalms. I remember our bedtime stories were always Bible stories and you can bet that by the time I was teen, I felt like I knew the Bible inside and out.

I could not have been more wrong.

I became a believer when I was 16 years old and I knew that reading the Bible was one of the  most important things you had to do. But I was 16 years old and the Bible bored me to death. I cannot tell you how many Bible plans I started, how many different translations I read, how many ‘I’ll start again on Monday’s I told myself. The truth is, I did not start reading the Bible until I was 20 years old. There were 4 years where I would go months without even picking up my Bible and making excuses for myself. The truth is, even though I was a Christian, I had to LEARN to love the Bible.

Why do Christians Need the Bible?

This is a question that is the most important to answer before you start learning to love God’s word. Until you understand the importance of Bible and the impact it has on your life, you will continue to make excuses for not reading.

We Learn About God

By far the most important reason that Christians need to love the Bible is because it is the word of God. If you are a Christian, your mission is to spend your life in servitude to Him, but how can you do that if you do not know Him? The Church is often referred to as the Bride of God. Can you imagine being married to someone and knowing absolutely nothing about them? Reading the Bible shows you God’s character! It teaches you about who Jesus really was and until you read that for yourself you will  never know who you serve.

The most beautiful part of it all is that you will read and re-read the same verses and God will keep opening up a new side of Him that you never noticed before and this will keep on happening because we can never know everything there is to know about Him. The more you seek Him, the more you find Him and the more you love Him! God created us in His image and we have to carry that image to show the world who He is, but we can’t do that if we do not know who He is.

We Learn About Christianity

Not only do we learn about WHO we serve, but we also learn about HOW we serve Him. If you don’t read your Bible, you will not know or be able to live your life as someone who is a child of God. You will not grow in your spiritual life, and you will not be able to fight off temptations from the world by yourself. I’ve heard from a young age that the Bible is a map for a Christian and you know what? It’s true! We need to know where we are going and how we can get there.

The Bible is Modern

This may seem like a contradiction considering the Bible is thousands of years old, but it’s true. Although the stories in the Bible happened long ago, they are more than applicable today because human nature and human need for God and hope does not change. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active.”

The Bible also talks about what will happen in the future and how we can prepare ourselves for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Although, it was written a long time ago, your Bible is more modern than tomorrow’s newspaper.

The Bible is Not Just for You

God intended for the Bible to be shared. If this was not the case, we would not have had it so many years after it was written. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Our calling is to tell others about the good news of Jesus Christ, but it’s also our calling to help our fellow believers in their walk. Having knowledge of the Bible is a great way to do both.

Why Don’t Christians Read Their Bibles?

If the Bible is so important, why don’t many Christians read it?

Time

Our lives are often jam packed with activities. For younger people there is school and work and for older people, there is work and family. It’s often very tough to find a time when you can sit down and read.

No Accountability

A lot of Christians are afraid to open up to their close friends and family that reading the Bible is something that the’re struggling with. Don’t be afraid to open up to your Christian friends with your struggle to love God’s word.

They Don’t Understand the Bible

The Bible is written in a time when people did not speak the way we do. And not only that, but it’s also translated. For new Christians that do not know “Christianese” just yet, the Bible can be very confusing.

Not Having a Plan

A common issue is that a lot of Christians read the Bible randomly, just opening up to a random page and reading whatever is on it. The problem with is that you read the same things over and over again and you miss important passages. Another common way to read is to read all of the New Testament because it is easier to understand and only some of the Old Testament. Again, a lot gets missed this way.

How Do We Fix These Issues?

Luckily, there are things you can do to help yourself out a little bit and begin to love reading the word of God.

Time and Place

We all get busy, I understand that. But you know what I found? Even on my most busiest days, there is always 30 minutes. It could be in the morning, or just sitting waiting for your class to start, it could be during your lunch hour or any other break time, but everyone has 30 minutes and if you don’t have 30 minutes out of your entire day to devote time to spending with God, then you will need to make some changes. The Bible and our spiritual growth takes priority. When we accept Jesus into our lives, things need to change and often times, that begins with rearranging your schedule. Start with just 30 minutes a day and then work your way up. Remember: You make time for the things that matter. 

Also, find a spot in your house or anywhere else where you will read every day. The important thing here is consistency. Right now, my spot is behind my kitchen counter at around 9:30 every morning. Having to go to the same spot every day will make it part of your routine and soon, if you skip a reading, it will feel like your whole day is off balance. You will want to read.

Partner Up

Like I mentioned, a lot of Christians are afraid to open up to their close friends and family that reading the Bible is something that the’re struggling with. We have all been there, but God wants us to have friends that we can lean on when we struggle with things. Most Bible heroes/heroines, including Jesus, leaned on their close family and friends when they struggled in life. Ask a friend or family member to read with you, ask them to check up on you every few weeks to see what God has been teaching you through your reading. You can even ask this person to pray for you as you learn to love God’s word!

Use Your Resources

The Bible is a difficult book to understand, no doubt about it. Thankfully there are so many different ways to “translate” what you don’t understand. Although, I don’t recommend using these options as your only version of the Bible because a lot of vital information gets lost in translation, resources like the NIV translation or The Message are such great ways to break apart difficult verses and to help you understand what a verse is talking about. Getting a study Bible is another great option to look into especially when you don’t understand all the different analogies and parables that can be found in the Bible. And finally, ask a Biblical leader, whether it’s your dad, your pastor, or someone else that could help interpret your questions.

Have a Plan

There are so many plans out there to help you keep track of your Bible reading and they could be very  fun too. It wasn’t until I started using a Bible plan with a group of friends to keep me accountable that I started to read the Bible every day. You don’t have to read the whole Bible in a year, you can do it over longer or shorter period of time. It’s like if a scientist goes to study a mountain, he can study it from a general perspective. He could map it out, look at the stone formations, the shape of the mountain etc. But he could also do an in depth study, like, what kind of soil or minerals are on this mountain, what kind of animals live here etc.

In the same way, we can study the Bible in a broad sense, like getting the full story. There are so many Christians out there that will not be able to tell you the general story of the Bible. You can also study it in depth, learning about certain topics, themes, and characters and that will obviously take a little longer. But the bottom line is having some sort of a plan that you go by so that you don’t miss the important details. If you need some ideas for Bible plans, you can visit this website for some ideas.

In Conclusion…

My love for God’s word started just 4 years ago even though I’ve been in a Christian household for 24 years. I made up excuses, but doing all of the things that I outlined for you here is really what got me on the right track. I may have started only 4 years ago, but every day for the last 4 years, I have spent time in the Word and it has been the most rewarding experience. I am at a point where I cannot wait to start a new Bible plan because I know that God will be teaching me something new.

God called you to be His child, now go listen to what He has to say.