How to Read Your Bible And Really Understand It

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How to Read Your Bible And Really Understand It

You grab your cup of coffee (or tea) and sit down in a quiet place. Your lamp is turned on and the distractions are turned off. You pick up your favorite cup and take a sip. You open your copy of God’s Word. The pages are stiff but you turn to the book of the Bible someone mentioned is a good place to start. Taking a deep breath you look down and begin to read. After a few verses, your head shakes away the cobwebs, but you realize that even after reading it a second time you still don’t understand what is going on. 

It seems as if you’ve picked up a copy of a book and started in the middle. Who are these people? What storm are they referencing? Is this poetry? A story? What do these lists of names mean? There are so many questions you feel immediately shame, guilt, and embarrassment. Then the frustration begins to seep inside your heart. 

Many times I’ve opened up my copy of God’s Word and struggled with understanding what I’m reading. It is in those moments my first response is to close it up and give up. Maybe you’ve been there too. Sometimes the Bible is hard to read. What do we do? 

Sometimes the Bible is hard to read. Here is how to read the Bible and really understand it.
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Let’s walk this road together. There will be bumps, but God desires for us to seek Him in His word. So He has not written us a book we can’t figure out! Here are some things you can try if you feel stuck and don’t understand where you are reading in the Bible. 

Three Tips for How to Read Your Bible When You Don’t Understand It

  1. Read the introduction. You can find several different introductions to all of the books of the Bible if you do a quick Google search. I love this site because it provides a very brief overview. At the bottom of this page, I link to some other introduction pages and a favorite YouTube channel I like to watch to understand the overall purpose of the book I am reading. 
  2. Read slowly. I know sometimes we want to see how many chapters we can read in one setting, but in all honesty, we need to slow down sometimes. I like to take the smaller books of the Bible (like Ruth, Philippians, and 1 John) and just a little each day. I might write out verses in my journal. There might be times I just meditate on one verse for the day. Reading slowly allows me to soak in and stop and dwell on what I think the author is saying. 
  3. Get a good commentary. I love to just read the Bible and do my very best to understand it on my own, but sometimes I just don’t have the background on it. That’s why I like good commentary. BibleGateway.com has many commentaries here. Remember that commentaries are only man’s interpretations. They are not authority, but can give some great insight into the Bible! 

BONUS: Join a community! I’ve got just the community for you if you want to understand the Bible! Read about it here.

  • ESV.org has many Bible introductions
  • The YouTube channel “The Bible Project” also has introductions you can search for! 
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