We’re already a month and a half into 2021–how are your New Year’s Resolutions going?!
According to this article from INC., New Year’s Resolutions are typically abandoned by January 19th—which means, if you decided to read the Bible daily this year, there’s a good chance that you abandoned that goal by now…
It’s okay—no judgement! We all have tanked our New Year’s Resolutions or goals before. According to INC. the article, the reason people typically abandon their resolutions is because of their approach to them. That makes sense—it’s hard to complete something if you aren’t approaching it the best way…
And when it comes to reading the Bible daily, I’d go as far to say that the reason you may not being doing that this year is because you don’t have a strong reason why you should.
Having a strong why behind whatever you do, is the type of motivation and inspiration you need to see a task through (hey, that rhymed!). If you need a better understanding of the power of “why”, I recommend checking out this Ted Talk from Simon Sinek.
For me, reading the Bible daily is more than just getting that morning power thought for the day. My motivation behind reading the Bible daily starts with my why, and even more than that, it starts with Biblical reasons why.
So if you want to start reading the Bible daily this year, I encourage you to start with your why.
Here are 5 Biblical reasons why you should read the Bible:
1. It’s meant to give you faith (Romans 10:17)
17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Romans 10:17
One thing we commonly hear from young Christians or those exploring their faith for the first time, is that they don’t have much faith to begin with.
We can tend to view faith as an emotion or a feeling. We see it as this thing that we “just have” one day—you know, “just believe” or “just have faith.” But what does that actually mean? What does “just believing” actually look like?
Your guess is as good as ours. What we do know is what the Scriptures actually say, and Romans 10:17 tells us that “faith come from hearing the Gospel message, which is heard through the word about Christ.” Where do you find the word about Christ? In the Bible!
So if we’re struggling in our faith or we have very little faith, the solution is way more tangible than “just believing” or “just having faith.” The solution is to get into the Scriptures and read them!
This is why we should read the Bible—because it produces faith!
2. It’s meant to teach, rebuke, correct, and train you in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17
The Bible isn’t just a collection of wonderful stories and inspirational power thoughts—it’s actually meant to be used. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, the Scriptures are meant to teach, rebuke (i.e. strongly correct), correct, and train us in righteous. We should also able to use the Scriptures in this way to help others.
2 Timothy 3:17 tells us that the reason the Bible is meant to be used in that way is so that we can be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Who doesn’t want that?!
So if we want to actually be thoroughly equipped for every good work, then we need to get into our Bibles and allow the Scriptures to teach, rebuke, correct, and train us in righteousness.
3. It’s meant to actually be applied to your life (Hebrews 4:12)
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12
The Scriptures here relate the Word of God to a double-edged sword. This is actually pretty interesting for two reasons:
1- A double edge sword is very sharp! The Scripture says that God’s word is even sharper than that! Obviously, the Bible isn’t physically sharp since it’s a book (and if it is, you probably need a new Bible). But the Scripture is speaking to the fact that God’s word is able to penetrate through things that seem inseparable (i.e. soul and spirit, joints and marrow), and it will expose (i.e. judge) our deepest thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
2- “Double edge sword” is a common used in the world today to mean that something has both favorable and unfavorable consequences. Isn’t that totally how the Bible is? It can either cut you now and you change as a result of it, or it will judge you later when it’s too late.
Based on Hebrews 4:12, the Bible is alive and active, further demonstrating that it’s meant to be used in our lives. Considering that the Bible is referred to as a double edge sword and swords cut, when we apply the Bible to our lives, it will “cut” us—in other words, it will hurt!
Remember, according to the Scripture, it’s the Bible that will judge our thoughts and attitudes of the heart; therefore, we should study out what the Bible has to say and actually apply it to all our lives.
4. It’s meant to show you who you really are (James 1:22-25)
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
James 1:22-25
If we’re truly allowing the Scriptures to “cut” us (i.e. if we’re truly applying the Scriptures to our lives), then the Bible will show us who we really are.
This Scripture here in James 1 is one of our favorites—it says that the Bible is a mirror. That is, the Bible is a reflection of your heart. It will show you who you really are before God.
The other reason we love this Scripture is because it’s a call to action. James 1:22 says that we shouldn’t just listen to the Word of God—we actually need to apply it. Otherwise, we’re self-deceived (yikes)! Therefore, it’s not just enough to read and study the Bible for intellectual knowledge—it’s meant to be applied to your life.
What’s the outcome of actually applying the Scriptures to your life? Well, according to James 1:25, the result is that we will be blessed in what we do! Who wouldn’t want that?!
5. It’s meant to help you fight off temptation (Matthew 4: 1-11)
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matthew 4: 1-4
This Scripture is the beginning of when the devil tempts Jesus. What’s amazing is that, not only did Jesus not give in to temptation, but he left us an example (1 Peter 2:21) of what we should do instead—turn to the Scriptures! Whenever the devil tried to say something off the wall in order to entice Jesus to sin, Jesus had the same type of response—he referred back to the Scriptures in Matthew 4: 5-11 (verses 4, 7, and 10):
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
Jesus knew the Scriptures well enough to know exactly what they said and which ones to refer to in order to guard his heart against the devil’s schemes.
Oftentimes we can give in to temptations, not because we’re “weak-willed” or the temptation is overwhelmingly enticing, but because we’re not deeply grounded in God’s word. God’s word is powerful and has the ability to protect us and guard our hearts. Rather than simply giving in to temptation, we should have “emergency Scriptures” that we’ve memorized that we can turn to instead.
So solidify your why with Biblical reasons as to why you should read the Bible this year. God’s word is powerful, and it’s meant to be used, not only to help us to grow spiritually, but to help us in the spiritual battle!
If you’re ready to start reading the Bible this year, we recommend that you check out our thorough Beginner’s Guide on How to Read and Understand the Bible:
