Read Your Bible Every Day: Why it Matters & How to Start

Show of hands, how many of you eat every day? I’m waving my hand wildly right now because not only do I eat every day but sometimes I have a second breakfast because the standard three-meals-a-day isn’t enough. Can’t live without food, right?

So, how many of you read your Bible every day?

I think a lot of hands just went down.

Satan loves this tactic. He wants us to believe it’s more important to eat than to feed the soul, which leaves a lot of souls hungering—starving, even. What about your soul? Is it a little malnourished right now? Let’s run a few diagnostics, then figure out how you can make reading the Bible a daily habit.

Lauren Thell, author of YA Christian Fiction

Hey, I’m Lauren, author of YA Christian fiction and

blogger for teens ready to level up in faith.

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Soul Food: The 4 Levels of Spiritual Nourishment

When it comes to reading the Bible, Christians generally fall into one of four categories.

A) Practically Starving, Barely Alive

Just as the body grows weak without food, the soul grows weak without a daily diet of God’s Word.

The Christian in this category is consuming just enough soul food to stay alive, but barely. Her time with the Bible is restricted to church. That’s like eating one meal a week and expecting it to sustain you! Just as the body grows weak without food, the soul grows weak without a daily diet of God’s Word.

The Solution: Up your intake of spiritual nourishment. Not just once a week but every day. Make daily Bible reading as much a priority as eating.

B) Emotional Eater: Binge-Reading When Trouble Comes Knocking

Tell me if you’ve ever seen this on a chick flick before: The poor damsel gets dumped by her boyfriend and reaches for a pint of Ben & Jerry’s to ease her heartache.

Many Christians treat the Bible like a pint of Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough and only reach for it when life throws them a curveball.

Of course, right?

Many Christians treat the Bible like a pint of Chocolate Caramel Cookie Dough and only reach for it when life throws them a curveball. And then they binge-read. It’s not wrong to go to your Bible when you’re experiencing a rough patch but a consistent diet of Scripture will make you stronger before the rough patches come.

(It also makes you more familiar with the Bible so you can find what you’re looking for when you need it!)

The Solution: In addition to carving out time for daily Bible reading, check out my posts How to Build Rock Solid Faith When God Stirs the Coals and Indestructible Faith: Toughen Up When the Waters Rise. Prepare yourself for the hard times!

C) Malabsorption: Eating But Not Digesting Properly

If you fall into this category, you read your Bible every day, but you’re not getting much out of it.

Malabsorption is a condition where you can eat all the food you want but your body doesn’t absorb the nutrients. If your spiritual nourishment falls into this category, you read your Bible every day or nearly every day (which is already a tremendous feat, so good for you!) but for whatever reason, you’re not getting much out of it. You might have trouble staying focused because you’re tired, or you’re distracted by your dog who wants to go for a walk, or your phone keeps ringing.

Maybe maintaining focus isn’t the problem but you just don’t understand what you’re reading.

The Solution: Don’t give up! You’ve almost made it to the next category. This is one reason Why Young Christians Absolutely Need to Go to Church. The Bible isn’t a YA fantasy novel or easy read. You need to be connected to a Bible-believing church so you can get your questions answered. Also, make sure your time with the Bible is free from distraction. (See Turn Down the Volume! How to Hear God’s Voice).

D) Full Diet

This is the ultimate sweet spot and the place you want to be. You read your Bible every day without the hindrances that prevent you from absorbing it, and you grow through what you read. The Bible would refer to you as “good soil.” (See the Parable of the Sower.)

No solution is needed here. But you might want to check out my post Wrong Ways to Read the Bible (That You Might Be Doing!).

How to Start Reading the Bible

If you’re new to Bible reading or just getting back in the habit of it, you might be wondering: How do I make a go of it? Where do I start? Let’s start with a few general guidelines for how to start reading the Bible whether it’s a brand-new habit or one you need to crank up a little more.

1) Find a Bible-reading buddy.

A few years ago, my sister and I endeavored to read the whole Bible, one chapter a day. We live two states apart so we weren’t sitting at the same table, reading it together. But 600 miles didn’t keep us from holding each other accountable. I lost track of how many times one of us texted the other:

“What chapter are you on? I missed a few days.”

Find an accountability partner and hold each other to it.

2) Choose a format that suits your style.

When I first published this post, I suggested everyone, even ebook lovers, get a physical, printed-and-bound hard copy of the Bible. For me, that makes it so much easier to highlight, underline, and fill the margins with notes. (If you’re an artist, try a journaling Bible, which has wider margins for notes and doodles.)

But you can’t deny the handiness of having the Bible on your phone, which for most of us already serves as an extra appendage. If an e-version means you’ll read it more often and more regularly, go for it! (I’ve heard good things about the YouVersion Bible app.)

3) Don’t find time, make it.

Just be honest. You don’t have extra minutes lying around, waiting to be scooped up. You have to make time. That means shaving minutes off something else, whether it’s extra sleep in the morning, your afternoon social media scrolling, or your evening exercise routine. Make time, and try to make it the same time every day. Routine is key to habit-formation.

I read my Bible first thing in the morning, before I get out of bed. It’s a habit.

4) Get rid of distractions.

It goes without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway) that you need to get rid of all distractions when you read. In other words, turn off your phone! Handle your time with God using the same dedication you would use for an appointment with a friend you haven’t seen for a long time.

5) Have a plan.

I’ll talk more about this in “Where to Start Reading the Bible” in a bit so I’m not going to elaborate here, but it’s wise to have a Bible-reading plan so you aren’t juming all over, taking a litte from Genesis, then Esther, then Matthew. A plan gives you regularity and goals.

6) Just do it!

If you can jump in a freezing lake, you can jump into reading the Bible every day which, in my opinion, is far less of a shock to the system. So do it! Put it into your schedule, start reading every day, and see how he blesses you. You can’t meet with Jesus and not be changed.

Where to Start Reading the Bible

This is probably the biggest question people have when they’re first getting started. Do you start in Genesis and go until the last word of Revelation? Hang out in the Gospels for awhile? Take a stab at Psalms and Proverbs.

Where you begin is not as important as the choice to actually read.

Yes. Any of those is fine. Where you begin is not as important as the choice to actually read. What matters is that you finally dedicate time in your busy schedule to hear what God has to say. Genesis is a great place to start, but so is Matthew. Adventurers might like the battles found in Joshua. Literary lovers will be fascinated by Psalms. Those who want a good refresher in Christian doctrine could start in Romans.

If you’re using a Bible app, you might even be able to download a reading plan that suits your interest. This awesome article from TheNIVBible.com—Where Should I Start Reading the Bible—gives you some great starting ideas, as well as a rundown of the different literary genres found in the Bible. Check it out!

More ideas to help you get started:

Awe & Terror: Be Captivated by Scripture’s Amazing Eyewitness Accounts
10+ Bible Passages for When God Seems Distant and Aloof (comes with a free 9-day Bible reading plan for subscribers)
6 Bible Stories That Show the Astonishing Love of Jesus
5 Bible Stories That Show the Awesome Power of God (comes with a free 25-day Bible reading plan for subscribers)
Where to Look In Scripture During Your Darkest Nights
Being a Christian Teen is Insanely Difficult—Let Psalm 119 Help

A Spiritual Feast: Read Your Bible Every Day

Don’t try to plow through the whole Bible in a short time like you might a Harry Potter book. You will absorb more if you read in small sections and take time to think about it and absorb it.

Dive right in and let the word of God change you!

More Spiritual Nourishment For Teens

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Read Your Bible Every Day: Why it Matters & How to Start

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