Bible Reading vs Bible Study: What’s the Difference (and Why It Matters) | Ep. 127

Do you feel like your Bible time “doesn’t count” unless you study deeply? Or find yourself burning out trying to do too much? In this episode, we clarify the difference between Bible reading and Bible study and why both matter for steady growth. Learn how to build a rhythm that fits real life, avoid pressure-driven habits, and approach Scripture with clarity and consistency. If you’ve felt stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure where to start, this conversation will help you move forward with confidence.

Transcript

Welcome And The Big Question

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This is episode 127, and I'm your host, Satoya, and this is Equip the Next, where you get equipped to lead, disciple, and move the mission forward. So are you reading the Bible or studying it? You don't want to miss this. Hopefully, you're doing both. But I figured we would just, you know, just revisit this. I did a previous um episode on this. So if you are new, feel free to listen to episode 103. That kind of gives you the difference between the two. But I did want to revisit it and just kind of share my rhythm a little bit and talk it over with people who are new. Or maybe you just need a refresher. So it's important that we focus and understand that reading scripture and studying scripture serve two very good, meaty, um, growth-worthy purposes. But you got to understand the difference so that it helps you remove unnecessary pressure. Now, listen, like I always say this, life be life in, you know, and it's important that we understand what rhythm we're in and what season we're in, and not to make excuses, but just, you know, allow ourselves, give ourselves some grace. Give yourself some grace, okay? You can give yourself some grace, but I think it's important to understand um the two so that we can make sure that we're incorporating that into our rhythm. So ask yourself this question Am I approaching scripture with unrealistic expectations? Hmm. Well, are you? Because if you are, we've I've been there, I'm pretty sure people who are listening to this podcast, we've been there, we get you. It's okay. You can breathe a little bit easier now. Okay. So um, I want us to look at certain things in our lives and understand that we need to do both. And like I said, I want to share my process with you. So I'm gonna share my rhythm because I am a mother and I am a wife and have a business as well as ministry, as well as help my husband. So I'm doing things just like everyone else is doing things. Oh, before I go on any further, listen, if you haven't already, be sure to download um or get that free guide, the Bible study guardrails, because I might be doing live Bible studies um local, locally in person. And so I only share the location um um via email. So I forgot to say that just because by the time you hear this, I don't know, maybe I'll be getting ready for that. So anyway, sorry, sorry to go on that sidebar. Back to reality. Um, when it comes to my rhythm, it depends on the season. I wanted to share all that, and that's what um triggered my memory on the Bible study because I'm busy. And there are seasons where I'm busier, and there are seasons where I'm less busy. Okay. And so, like when I was a seminary, I was just really busy, you know, and I wasn't really doing a lot of personal Bible study time because I was studying for school and papers and stuff like that. And so there's this time for Bible study and and reading the Bible, and sometimes we beat ourselves up and we have to understand that God understands. Um, and so I wanted to share different, you know, seasons in my life where those shifts. So sometimes I have a process process season. The process season is I may not read my Bible every single day because what I'll typically do is I'll read a passage, especially if it's the New Testament and it's in it's an epistle, which is a letter. Because letters are meant to be read in totality, like in one sitting. Because I mean, if someone wrote you a letter, you're not gonna read half of the letter. You're gonna read the whole letter, right? Somebody write you an email, you're gonna read the whole email. You're not gonna read a piece of the email, right? So this more so applies to that. So if I'm reading um a letter in the Bible, an epistle in the Bible, I'll read it in one sitting that one day, and then I might meditate on those passages. Things might uh might have stood out to me. Um, I'll take notes of it and I'll just kind of keep playing it in my mind. And in the meantime, throughout the week, I might do some research, historical research. I might um maybe a term stands out to me. I'll go in a Bible dictionary, look at it. It just really kind of depends. But I'm meditating on it. I'm not moving forward just for sake of moving forward. I used to do that. I used to read the Bible every day as like a checklist. Like, okay, check, I read it, but it there wasn't any intention behind it. And some people read like that. And kudos to them because, hey, there's a season for that where you just want to get the word in, and you might just read it just to get it in you. So I'm um remember, I'm sharing with you different processes. So we're gonna get there. But when I have the process season, I'm sorry, different seasons in the rhythm in my life. So when I have the process season, I am, like I said, reading, meditating on it. I might do some research, I might a term or a verse might stand out to me, and I'm just I'm just meditating on it for a couple days, and then I'll have one day out of the week where I'll do a deep dive. So the deep dive is where I'm going in deep. I'm going and I'm basically just going through, I'm combing through that book. We're talking about epistle here. So that book, I'm going through it in detail, chapter by chapter. And so sometimes that could be a long time. My husband would talk about me in in love, he would he'd be joking. But sometimes it'll be six hours that I'll be, and I don't really think about it. It's just you go down these rabbit trails, you know what I'm talking about. So you just I just stay there and I'm like, wow, I gotta get up. And sometimes it's two hours, it just really depends on what I find and what I, you know, what I learn and how I grow, and it's prayer and it's studying and it's researching. And so I'm doing a deep dive, so I'm studying on that day, but I only study like once a week sometimes. There were times when um we're reading the Bible um together in the EFP group. There were times where, like when I was doing Genesis, I was studying, like deep dive studying almost every other day. It was just so good, you know. And because of that, my study time was cut shorter, maybe like an hour and a half to two hours, opposed to like the six hours. But you get my point. It was like that was the season that I was in. And then there are times there are seasons where I'm in the word daily, I'm reading it every day, or maybe it's playing on my app every day, depending on what I'm doing. And there will be something that stands out a verse, a chapter, a theme, and I will make note of it so then I can go back and study it um later on that week, or later on that day. So, in this sense, I am reading the Bible every day, and I'm doing deep dives along the way. Like I said, a few times a week, maybe once a week. And and then you might have a show-up season. I've I've had those show up season. I'll read every day intentionally, but then I'm like, okay, Lord, I I haven't really done a deep dive in a while. And for me, because I love to study, I'll get that kind of like desire. It's it's it's something that I can't go too long without. That's just me. But you get the point that there are different seasons. This will this will help you, hopefully, to not have unrealistic expectations, thinking that you have to be so rigid. Listen, it's okay. I'm I'm a person that's about schedule, but I also believe that it's important to allow the Holy Spirit to come in. And if you are, and I'm not talking about being lazy, there's a big difference. Like if you can scroll on social media or if you're like watching your favorite shows, I don't watch a lot of television. I just don't have the time. But if you're watching television endlessly and you're not reading the Bible or studying it, uh, that's that's a different thing. You're that's just you have to develop a muscle to do it. And that's that requires disciplines and self-control. I'm more so talking about people who, you know, you're like LaToya, I can't get in the word as much as I want to. I read it every day, or I read it and then I'm meditating on it, and then I do a deep dive study, study on it. You know, I don't know if this is right or not. Listen, you're gonna have seasons like this. Give yourself grace and understand that it's important to read the Bible, which is like you're reading the scripture to get it in you, but it's also very important to study the Bible. You may not be able to study the Bible every day because you have a family and you have uh, you know, to work. But if you can study the Bible, um, I would say at least a few times a month. But again, I don't know everyone's schedule, so you know, studying, you might be able to study for 30 minutes and get a good meaty study. It just depends. But remember, studying always will it's gonna deepen your understanding, and both practices or like the reading and versus studying are both very important and they serve very important roles. You need to read it and you need to study it. That's the goal. It's again for people who neglect it and they do other stuff when they could literally just do that. Same thing for prayer. Prayer should be all throughout. You might have prayer where it's all throughout the day. We should be doing that, and then you might have times where you just want to kind of step away from everybody and just have some time with you and the Lord. Now again, I am a mother and I am a wife, and if you are a mother and a wife, you already understand. Or if maybe you're not and but you have a very busy job. We should never put those things before the Lord, but the Lord understands and he allows grace if you have disciplines and self-control and understand what season you're in so that you can incorporate reading and studying. If you notice, I think I shared, let me see, one, two, I shared three seasons that I was in or stages that I was in, and yet I was still able to read, and I was still able to study. You know, um, there might be a season where you're not able to study because maybe you're out of the country or you're out of state and you don't have access to some tools or whatever the situation may be, or there's some people in other locations that don't even have access to a Bible. And so they may not be able to read every day. Um, there are other places in the world where they only have one Bible for their whole congregation. See, when we're in the Western world, I'm in the Western world, we take advantage of that. We take that for granted instead of understanding that there are other people in other countries that may only have one Bible that they have to share with everybody. So, guess what? That person may not be able to read the Bible every day. They have to read it when they get it, and they have to let that word marinate and meditate on that word and let it sit in them. Think about that. Think about that. We want to get the word in us, we want to learn scripture, we want to grow. Don't take advantage if you have the time. And like I said, the Lord understands, if you have the time, take advantage of the time. Sit, and my my friend says, sit your butt in the chair. That's what she says. That's her line. Put your butt in the chair and take a couple, it could be five minutes, it could be ten minutes, it could be, you know, and do a little deep dive. Do a word study, do a um verse map. Those are really good for starting. That's where I started. And it grows and it grows and it grows from there. Listen, the Christ thread, the living word, wisdom. He he lives in us, the hope of glory. He's in us. But when we read the word, we learn more about him, we learn more about God and his son, the Holy Spirit. These are the things we learn about. And so it's very important to do both. But be um, give yourself grace and understanding that seasons change. Allow the Holy Spirit, not you. Notice I didn't, I didn't, you know, this this was not like my rhythm that I shared. It was just, it just kind of the seasons changed and I changed with it. So allow the Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you, not you be like, oh, I can't do. Allow the Spirit to help you and guide you. My challenge for you is very simple. I want you to choose one passage to simply read. Just read it. And then you can either pick that passage or choose another passage that you will choose to slow down and study this week. I didn't notice I didn't say a whole book. I didn't even say a whole um chapter. Just a passage. That's my goal. That I mean, sorry, that's my challenge to you. Okay, listen. If you haven't gotten the free guide to Bible study guardrails yet, what are you waiting for? It's gonna help you, I believe. I hope it does. It'll encourage you as well. It's very quick and short. Don't forget to get that. Listen, I can't wait to hear you. Um, email me at hello at equipthenext.com. Bless you.