For many of us who have grown up in the church and are familiar with the Christian faith, we have heard many times of the importance of reading the Bible. Hearing this can often lead to guilt and shame if it’s not something we are consistently doing or doing at all.
Today, I’d like to show you the beauty of studying Scripture, with no guilt or pressure. In this post my main objective is to show you the reasons why we should read the Bible and the benefits of being familiar with it. Above all, I seek to demonstrate a life devoted to His Word, and to show you that it doesn’t take some “super-Christian” to make that happen. In fact, it is all Him.
We read the Bible because of our salvation in Jesus Christ.
When we fully understand the gospel, “Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2), we will be eager to know more about Him. If we have experienced true conversion, we will care about the Bible and devote ourselves to it, we will see it for what it is: the living and active, breathing Word of the Lord (Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16). The true Christian clings to God’s Word, because they know that it is only through His grace that they have been redeemed. The true Christian quite literally clings to every word of their Creator.
An understanding of the gospel leads to a love for our Savior, and a love for our Savior leads to an eagerness to know His Word.
My favorite author and theologian, Charles Spurgeon, said this about Scripture reading: “True Bible-readers never find it wearisome. They like it least who know it least, and they love it most who read it most.”
We also read God’s Word because it is how He speaks to us.
Think back to a time when you felt like God was far away or silent (or maybe you feel like that as you’re reading this). During that time, were you reading your Bible or was it sitting unopened on a shelf somewhere?
A feeling of disconnection from God is likely due to a disconnection from His Word.
If we want to know what God is saying to us, it can all be found in the pages of His Book. 1 Corinthians 14:33 tells us that God is “not a God of confusion but of peace.” We can have peace when we are sure of His Word.
Lastly, we read the Bible because it is all about Him.
It can be easy to approach the Bible like a self-help book, something we pick up once in a while to get the solutions to all of our problems. I know that when I viewed the Bible this way, it was so easy to take verses out of context and misapply them. Not everything in God’s Word can be directly applied to our lives, but it all provides more insight into who God is and the story of redemption He has set before us.
The Bible was never meant to be read through the lens of ourselves or our own experiences – it is entirely about God and how He interacts, redeems, and pursues His people all for His own glory.
When we go to Scripture knowing that is a narrative that is proclaiming His goodness, the pressure is off of us to make it a beautiful or exciting thing. It is completely whole, beautiful, exciting, and engaging all on its own! We cannot add anything to it because it is perfect apart from us because it is His.
God is gracious enough to include us and let us read it. Only when this realization occurs can we begin to truly be transformed by His Word. Don’t worry, you’ll see where you fit into the story, it just might not be where you think.
In summation, as Christians, we should care about His Word and devote ourselves to it. This post was not meant to invoke guilt on those who are not currently prioritizing the Bible in their lives, but it is meant to challenge and remind you of the why behind reading and studying it.
He is worthy, friends, of our time and effort.
Girls Grace & Truth 
Amen! Scripture is God’s love letter to His children. He was not obligated to send it, but He did. “We love because He first loved us.” -1 John 4:19 To those who know Him, His Word becomes the sweetest thing we know.
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