How To Start Reading Your Bible

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Aside from His Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit living within us, the best gift God has given His children is His Word. What a blessing it is that we have access to the Word of God and can read it whenever we want. Because of the Bible, we always have the opportunity to hear straight from the Lord.

While this gift of God’s Word is nothing short of amazing, I also realize the Bible can seem pretty intimidating. It’s a big book. There’s a lot going on within its pages, and there are a whole bunch of names that are practically impossible to pronounce. Because of all that, it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to reading and studying your Bible. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t read it all.

We need God’s Word like we need food, water, and air to survive. Jesus said it Himself in Matthew chapter 4 that, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4). There is so much comfort, peace, encouragement, empathy, love, guidance, and wisdom to be found in Scripture. And taking the time to read it will satisfy our hearts more than anything or anyone else in this world ever could.

So, if we want to find that encouragement, guidance, and comfort, where should we start? How should we approach reading and studying the Bible so that we can come to know God on a more personal level and allow Him to grow us and mature us in our walk with Him? I’m glad you asked.

I would first suggest that you choose a book of the Bible and camp out there for a while. This is about quality, not quantity. It’s going to do you no good to read your entire Bible in a year if you’re not actually soaking in and retaining the information within it. So it’s okay to spend a month or two reading the same book. A couple books you could start with are the gospel of Luke or the Psalms.

Also, take notes or write down questions as you read. Is there a specific verse that stands out to you? Write it down. Is there something about a passage that doesn’t make sense? Write out any questions you have so you can either study further or ask a trust friend or mentor. The likelihood of you remembering what you’re reading goes way up if you write as you read.

Finally, begin memorizing verses in Scripture that really speak to you. Having God’s Word committed to memory is crucial when tough times come your way. So start committing verses to memory now so that you have them in your back pocket later.

Again, this is just a starting point when it comes to reading God’s Word, but I promise you that if you’ll just get started, you will grow to love your time reading your Bible. You’ll begin to learn so much about God, about the way He created you, and about His plan and purpose for you. So even though it’s scary and intimidating, don’t hold off on diving into Scripture any longer. Open the Word of God and watch Him do an amazing work within you as you read.