How to Read the Bible Every Day and Actually Stick With It

Most Christians don’t need another person telling them they should read the Bible.

We know.

We own Bibles. Some of us own enough Bibles to stock a small bookstore. We have Bible apps on our phones, reading plans in our email, devotionals beside the bed, and probably at least one plan we started in Genesis and quietly abandoned somewhere around Leviticus.

The problem usually isn’t knowing that we should read God’s Word. The problem is understanding why it matters enough to become part of our everyday lives and then developing a habit we can actually sustain.

If we’re going to learn how to read the Bible every day, I think we need to start somewhere other than a reading plan.

We need to start with God.

Start With the Why: Who Is God?

Think for a moment about who we’re talking about.

God created everything that exists. Nothing surprises Him. Nothing happens outside His knowledge. He sees what we cannot see and knows what we cannot know. Everything ultimately belongs to Him because He created it.

Scripture repeatedly describes God as sovereign over His creation.

But God’s power is only part of the picture.

He is also good.

Jesus used the relationship between a father and his child to help us understand this:

“Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him.” — Matthew 7:9–11 (CSB)

That changes how we should think about reading the Bible.

We’re not reading an ancient religious textbook simply because Christians are supposed to read it. We’re listening to the God who created us, knows us completely, loves us, and knows what is best for us.

Think about the things in your life you would like to see change.

Maybe it’s your marriage. Perhaps it’s a broken relationship with one of your children. It could be anger that seems to control you, bitterness you can’t let go of, fear about the future, financial pressure, disappointment, loneliness, or circumstances you desperately wish were different.

God doesn’t promise to change every circumstance into what we want it to be. Sometimes He changes the circumstance. Sometimes He changes us in the middle of it.

But God is the only One capable of transforming every dimension of our lives.

If that’s true, shouldn’t we want to know what He has said?

God’s Word Is Meant to Change Us

Paul explained to Timothy what Scripture actually does:

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” — 2 Timothy 3:16–17 (CSB)

Look at those four things.

Scripture teaches us what is true.

It rebukes us when we’re wrong.

God’s Word corrects us when we’re headed in the wrong direction.

Then it trains us to live differently going forward.

That’s considerably more than getting an inspirational thought to start the morning.

God uses His Word to transform us.

I know because I’ve experienced it.

The Bible Changed My Lens

Negativity was a part of my life from my earliest years.

Growing up, I often felt as though no amount of effort was ever quite good enough for my mother. When you live around that kind of negativity long enough, it can start becoming part of the way you see everything.

That’s what was happening to me.

I was becoming a glass-half-empty kind of guy.

Around the time I graduated from high school, a relative gave me a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale. That book had a significant impact on me at the time, but probably not for the reason you might expect.

I don’t advocate everything taught in that book. Norman Vincent Peale isn’t the authority I ultimately learned to trust.

God’s Word is.

What mattered was that the book pointed me toward two passages of Scripture that began changing the way I thought.

The first was Romans 12:1–2. We looked at this passage in the previous article, but one phrase became especially important to me:

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” — Romans 12:2 (CSB)

I didn’t have to continue thinking the way I had learned to think.

Renewing Your Mind

My mind could be renewed.

Then I encountered what became my favorite verse in the Bible:

“Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.” — Philippians 4:8 (CSB)

That verse gave me a different lens through which to look at life.

Philippians 4:8 doesn’t tell us to pretend everything is wonderful. Christianity isn’t about looking at an empty gas tank and convincing yourself it’s full. There are painful circumstances, evil actions, difficult relationships, disappointments, sickness, death, and plenty of other things in this world that aren’t positive.

Biblical thinking doesn’t deny reality.

It teaches us to interpret reality through the truth of God.

I began learning that I didn’t have to dwell constantly on everything that was wrong. I could intentionally direct my thoughts toward what was true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise.

Over time, my perspective changed.

The glass didn’t always have to be half empty.

My circumstances hadn’t magically changed. The people around me hadn’t all changed. What changed was the way I processed what was happening around me.

God’s Word changed my thinking.

That’s why I believe reading Scripture matters.

How to Read the Bible Every Day Without Making It Complicated

Once we understand why God’s Word matters, we can deal with the practical question.

How do you actually make Bible reading a regular part of your life?

First, stop making it harder than it needs to be.

You don’t need to begin by committing to an hour of Bible study every morning. If you haven’t been reading Scripture regularly, promising yourself you’ll wake up at 5:00 every morning and study for an hour is probably a great way to feel guilty by Thursday.

Start small enough that you can actually succeed.

Ten focused minutes with God’s Word every day is better than an ambitious plan you abandon after a week.

Choose a consistent time and place when possible. Maybe that’s first thing in the morning with a cup of coffee. Perhaps lunch works better for you. Someone else may find that reading before bed is the only realistic option.

There isn’t a biblical command that says God only speaks before breakfast.

Find something that works and make it a habit.

Where Should I Start Reading?

If you haven’t read the Bible consistently before, you don’t necessarily need to start on page one.

Genesis is enormously important, but beginning there often creates a predictable problem. Genesis has fascinating stories. Exodus starts strong. Then eventually the new Bible reader reaches detailed laws, sacrifices, measurements, genealogies, and instructions they don’t yet have enough biblical context to understand.

The Bible-reading plan starts collecting dust.

Instead, consider starting with the Gospel of John.

Get to know Jesus.

Read a manageable section each day. Don’t worry about how many chapters you finish. Instead, slow down enough to understand what you’re reading.

Ask three simple questions:

• What does this teach me about God?
• What does this reveal about me?
• What should I do differently because of what I just read?

You don’t need a seminary degree to ask those questions.

Keep a notebook nearby and write down one thing that stands out. It doesn’t need to become a three-page journal entry. Sometimes one sentence is enough.

The objective isn’t mileage.

It’s transformation.

Don’t Confuse Finishing With Growing

There are some excellent Bible-reading plans available, including plans designed to take you through the entire Bible in a year.

I’ve got nothing against them.

But finishing a reading plan isn’t the same thing as knowing God’s Word.

You can rush through four chapters because your app says you’re three days behind, close the app, and five minutes later have absolutely no idea what you just read.

You completed the assignment.

But did God’s Word get into you?

Sometimes five verses carefully read, understood, considered, and applied can accomplish more than five chapters skimmed while watching the clock.

The goal isn’t to say, “I read my Bible today.”

The goal is for God’s Word to increasingly shape how we think and live.

Reading Is Only the Beginning

God told Joshua:

“This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it.” — Joshua 1:8 (CSB)

Biblical meditation isn’t emptying your mind.

It’s filling your mind with God’s truth and continuing to think about it.

That’s what happened with Philippians 4:8 in my life. I didn’t simply read it once, check a box, and move on. It became something I returned to. Eventually, it became a filter for my thoughts.

The psalmist gives us another picture:

“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.” — Psalm 119:105 (CSB)

A lamp doesn’t necessarily illuminate the next 20 miles.

It gives you enough light to take the next step.

Sometimes we approach the Bible wanting God to explain His entire plan for the next ten years. Often, God’s Word shows us what faithfulness looks like today.

Then tomorrow, we come back.

What Happens When You Miss a Day?

You will.

At some point, you’ll oversleep. You’ll travel. The kids will be sick. Work will explode. You’ll simply forget.

Don’t turn one missed day into three missed months.

This is where a lot of people lose the habit. They miss Tuesday, feel guilty Wednesday, realize by Friday that they’re several chapters behind, and decide they’ll start over next month.

Forget that.

You missed yesterday?

Read today.

You’re building a relationship with God, not maintaining a streak on an app.

Consistency matters, but perfection isn’t the goal.

Keep coming back to His Word.

The Goal Isn’t a Checkmark

In the last article, we talked about what it means to put God at the center of our lives.

That raises an obvious question:

How can God direct my life if I don’t know what He has said?

That’s why learning how to read the Bible every day matters.

Not because reading Scripture earns God’s favor. Not because checking off another chapter makes us better Christians. And not because God is waiting to punish us if we miss Wednesday morning.

We read God’s Word because the God who created us has spoken.

• He knows us better than we know ourselves.
• He sees what we cannot see.
• He knows where we’re wrong, where we’re hurting, where we’re confused, and where we need to grow.

His Word teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, trains us, encourages us, and renews our minds.

I’ve seen what a couple of verses can do when we allow God’s truth to change the way we think.

So start small.

Open the Bible.

Read what God has said.

Think about it.

Apply it.

Then come back tomorrow.

And as we learn to hear from God through His Word, something else begins to happen. We naturally want to talk to Him about what we’re learning, what we’re facing, what we need, and what needs to change inside us.

That conversation is called prayer.

And that’s where we’re going next.