49. Transitioning Into Bible Study Made Simple for Christian Women

Ready to come along the journey with me as we start learning about the Bible in a way that's actually simple to understand?!

In this episode of Step Into Bold Faith, Whitney shares her personal journey and why she has decided to switch the direction of her platforms to focus specifically on Bible study made simple for Christian women.

She also begins to explain the practical strategies for Bible study, emphasizing the "5 things you need to truly understand the Bible", which goes along with a FREE guide linked in the show notes. 

This episode introduces her new focus on helping beginners and seasoned believers alike to study the Bible effectively and confidently.

If you have been asking questions like:

• What is the right mindset to have for Bible study?
• What effective study tools and methods should I be using for Bible study?
• Why is building consistency in Bible reading so important?
• How can I deepen my understanding and application of scripture?
• What does the role of community play in Bible study?

Then this podcast is for you!

Continue Learning About the Bible With Whitney:

1. Get the FREE guide: 5 Things You Need to Truly Understand the Bible. Learn the things you need to start truly understanding the Bible so you can live with more clarity, direction, and purpose as a Christian woman!

2. Join the Step Into Bold Faith Collective: This is a guided community for Christian women to learn how to read, study, and apply the Bible to everyday life. Get ready to change how you think, how you live, and who you become!

3. Follow on TikTok & Instagram @stepintoboldfaith and send her a DM with any questions you have about the Bible!

4. Subscribe to the Step Into Bold Faith YouTube channel to watch the video version of these audio episodes!

Transcript

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Today I want to talk to you about what is happening with Stephen Bold Faith and what this podcast is going to look like moving forward and how we're going in a little bit of a different direction and how I'm actually going to start helping you learn how to study the Bible on your own and learn about it and get really confident so you feel like you can take away something every time you go to open it and you go to read it. And so by the end of this episode, you're going to understand why I'm shifting the direction of this podcast, how it's going to benefit you, what I'll be teaching moving forward. And here, one of the best methods I use to study and understand the Bible and learn the five things that you need to truly understand the Bible. And I'll also tell you about this really great free guide that I have that's going to help you get started. So let's get into today's episode. So welcome to Step into Bold Faith. I'm your host, Whitney Gardner, and I'm going to be teaching you simple, practical basics of how to read, study, understand, and apply the Bible so you can start living with more clarity, direction, and purpose as a Christian woman. So I'm so excited that you're here with me today. And I just can't believe that this is happening, honestly. I really wanted to talk a little bit about my personal story behind what is going on and why this is happening. So for the last few weeks, I had been really, really struggling with the podcast, trying to figure out what in all the platforms, honestly, the social media platforms and everything, I just felt like God was really leading me in a new direction. And I didn't understand what it was going to look like or what he wanted me to do with it. But everything just felt super difficult. Like I would go to create something for it. And I just felt like a block after block after block. I was like, this is not what I'm supposed to be doing. Like, and I was really trying to find that clarity. And it took a while to see what he really wanted me to do with it. And I kept asking for signs and like things were happening. And I would be like, okay, I feel like I'm getting closer. I feel like I'm getting closer. And then it was just like one day last week, it was like so clear. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm supposed to be helping people with Bible study, but not high-level Bible study, Bible study that they actually can understand, that they actually can go and do something with. Like, because when I first started my journey as a Christian woman, I was looking up all these resources, like how to study the Bible, how to learn about the Bible, like what are the Bible basics, right? Like a lot of this, like the most foundational concepts. And it was honestly kind of hard to find, especially in podcast format. I had found a few Christian podcasts I really liked a lot, but they were also high level. Like I would go and listen to them, and I felt like I just really couldn't connect with the level that they were at. Like I felt like they were so far beyond me. And a lot of times when God grows in you, he does grow in you super quick. So I can understand how they were at that point. But I feel like he's really calling me to make something that it doesn't matter if you're a brand new Christian or a Christian who's been in it for years. I feel like we can all learn and understand the Bible better and at a more foundational basic level, even to start teaching other people about scripture, right? And and help other new Christians who want to learn about it, but maybe feel overwhelmed or confused. And I just really feel like this is the direction he wants me to go in. And I feel so good about it. Like when I was starting to create my new podcast cover art and did the announcement for it, and just everything I I'm gonna be creating in the future, I just feel so solid about it. And I know that this is what I'm meant to be doing and how I'm meant to be serving people because I really like one of my foundational levels, like spiritually as a person in the kingdom, like a leader in the kingdom, however you want to call it, like my role is really to be a teacher. And I've always felt like that. But now when I started becoming even more specific with like a Bible study teacher, everything just got so much more clear. And I'm like, okay, I get that. It's like people want simple steps, they want things that are repeatable, that they can actually take and use for themselves. Like I love going to church, right? But it's going to church and we're listening to what the pastors have to say, and they're taking all these verses and they're like helping us apply it to our lives. But it's like, how do we do that on our own? How can we actually go home and open and study the Bible and do this on our own in our own time and have things that are revealed to us and learn about it and have a genuine excitement for it and an eagerness to learn about it, right? That's one of something that one of the girls in the Stephen Noble Faith Collective told me. She's like, I actually feel eager to go home and read my Bible now. Like I feel so excited about it. And there was like another person who was like, Yeah, I feel like this was the first time I actually understood the text. I I I've been leading through my collective members to go read through John and giving them specific questions for it and really helping them dive into this text and understand it. And this is the feedback that they're giving me that it's really working. And the step into bold faith collective is a community for Christian women to really truly learn how to read, study, understand the Bible. And you can learn more about that in the link in the show notes. But side note, this is just something I've realized a lot of women are struggling with, right? Like, especially beginner Christians, or like I said, you don't even have to be a beginner Christian, though. Like a lot of times people are farther ahead in their Christian journey and they want to still read and understand the Bible at a basic level. So it doesn't really matter where you're at. It's just we all could do more. And that's really why I decided to change this direction and really felt God leading me here because this was really something I couldn't find that I really feel like I can help people with now. And I'm such a teacher mode. Like I love teaching people and I love step-by-step processes and helping you dive into things and asking the right questions for you to like prompt yourself to really try to learn and understand this. So so, and honestly, too, the Bible is like so foundational. It's the it's the foundation to our ourselves and the way we should live our lives and the way that God wants us to live as our lives as Christians, right? And we have to follow the handbook. We have to, if we want to improve ourselves, improve our lives, improve the lives of other people around us, right? We have to be obedient and read the scripture and understand it and apply it and actually do what it says, right? But the first step is just learning and understanding it to even see what it says and what it wants to be revealing to us. And so I think a lot of Christian women, you know, they they want to read the Bible, but they don't know how. Or they own a Bible, but how much time are they actually spending in it, right? Or maybe they've started reading the Bible before and then they stopped. That was me, like the first time I ever tried to really like dive into reading the Bible. I got through like two or three books, maybe, and then I just stopped and I got over it and I was not into it. Another thing is a lot of times people will read the Bible, but they don't actually understand. They don't actually take anything away from it. They are like, well, I just read it, but now I have no takeaways. I don't actually know what to do with it. Or maybe they don't know how to actually study it and how to ask themselves the deeper questions, how to Bible highlight, how to really dig into the text where you can do this yourself and get something from it. Or maybe they feel really intimidated by the Bible. I mean, the Bible is no joke, you know, like that is a that is a large piece of text and it is very overwhelming. It's very intimidating. So I get how a lot of people can feel intimidated. They also may feel really inconsistent. Like you stop one day, you start again, you're like, I'm gonna read 10 chapters today, and then the next day you don't read any, right? Or maybe some Christian women out there are relying on devotionals or podcasts instead of reading the Bible itself. When reading the Bible yourself and sitting down with it and actually being in the text is one of the most powerful ways to grow as a Christian woman. It's the most powerful way to grow your faith. It's one of the most powerful ways to be connected to God, to be in touch with his spirit and to feel and read that text is so important. So we cannot be relying on third-party things. Like even this podcast, just because you're coming to listen to this podcast and you respect what I have to say, and I'm gonna help teach you how to do it, that means you actually have to go and do it, right? You have to sit down in the word and you have to do these things. Based on all these different things, all these different problems that I see, I'm gonna be helping you overcome each and every one of these in these different podcast episodes and on my social media platform at Step Into Bold Faith on Instagram and TikTok. Go check it out and make sure to follow if you haven't yet. But I'm gonna be helping you with all these things. I'm gonna help you want to read the Bible, spend time, to spend time in it, to actually understand it, to know how to study it, to not feel intimidated by it, to stay consistent, to not just rely on other third-party things, but you actually knowing how to do it and feeling really confident in it. And the problem is that most people just were never taught how to read and understand the Bible, or there weren't good enough resources that they found, or everyone's journey is just so different. And so I'm really hoping that that's what I can get and how I can help you to do this, right? This is my goal. And so I want to first go over in this episode, I want to start kind of teasing out some of the things I'm gonna be talking about in later episodes and really teach you the five things that you need to truly understand the Bible. So the first one is the right mindset. You need to approach the Bible with the right mindset, which means not reading it too fast, realizing that it is a big piece of text and things will be revealed to you over time. You have to take it slow, you have to enjoy it, you have to soak it in. Sometimes I I spend a little bit of time in it and I can get a lot from just a tiny little section. Sometimes I spend a lot of time in it and I can get a lot more from it. But going at your own pace is super important. This is why I really don't like those like Bible in a year plans and stuff like that, because it's like rushing you on a timeline. It's saying you need to get this far at by this day. And it's not really like that. It's it's something that you have to just sit and like let it speak to you and just be there to soak it up. And so I don't recommend reading it super fast or reading it on a timeline. And also reading it to really understand it, not just reading it to check a box, but have the mindset of like, I'm gonna read this and I'm gonna get something from it every time I come in here. And also not being intimidated, you know, feeling confident. Like when you go to read the Bible, like I can do this. I can I can feel empowered to understand the Bible. It's not too high level for me. Like I know the steps. Wendy's teaching me the tools, she's giving me the guidance, she's giving me the support. I have everything I need to truly understand the Bible, right? And inviting God into your time too, like this is a holy moment. Like when we have our Bibles, like that means that the Holy Spirit can be present, God can be present, he can speak to you, he can reveal different things for you. And even with myself, with my own Bible study journey, certain parts of the Bible I've realized he's revealing different things to me. Like right now, I'm in Exodus and he's really revealing to me about his character. He really wants me to see every line where it's like the Lord did this or the Lord said this, or but that's not how it was when I was in Revelation or a couple of the books back that I was working on. Those were more about how to actually apply it to my life, what this was showing about me and my life. And so it's like each one is gonna give you a different thing. And so that's why it's really important to invite God into the time and see what he wants to show you. So that was number one. That was the first thing is having the right mindset. The second thing here is having the right tools and study methods, how to actually break down scripture, how to actually take notes, how to journal while you're doing it, what questions to ask yourself, how to Bible highlight, right? What books do I need? What resources do I need to look at? I'm gonna be helping you with all of that. And then the third thing here is consistency, building your Bible study time into an actual habit, having it become something you do a little bit daily, even if it's five minutes, spending five minutes in scripture every single day will change your life, I promise you. But it has to be something that you want to do and it has to be a consistent habit that you're constantly spending time in. And also giving yourself that time and space for God to show up for to see what the Bible is going to reveal to you, right? And having that quiet time set aside for for you and your in the Bible and the Lord, right? To have that time. It's really important to have that space, and that's when he really shows up for us the most. And also just making it, like I said, a part of your daily routine, like figuring out, are you a morning Bible reader? Are you a nighttime Bible reader? I think that there's something really powerful about putting God first in the very first part of our day. And just again, making it a small thing consistently all the time. Consistency over perfection here for sure. And then thing number four is digging deeper and applying scripture. Okay. And before I go into thing number four, I just want to say that this five thing you need to truly understand the Bible. This is not something that I went and searched for on Chat GPT or something like that. This is the thing like I was walking around my neighborhood outside, and I was like, what are the five things that I did to truly understand the Bible? And I was like, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. And these were the things that I came up with. So I want you to know that this was really from my heart. This is really truly what helped me, and I really truly believe it's gonna help you if you do it. Thing number four, digging deeper and applying scripture. So understanding the context, what this text is teaching you about God, what it's teaching you about how to live your life, the commands, right? What it's teaching you about what to avoid, it's sins, right? Like sins, things to avoid, what it's showing you about its promises, how it keeps its promises, how it shows characteristics about Jesus and what he did in his life, right? And how to apply it to your life, how to make those changes as a Christian woman, to become more confident in the way that you live your life because you're living your life the way that Jesus and God shows us in the Bible and tells us in the Bible. And number five here is community. Community is so important when we're learning about the Bible because it's so important to learn from other people, to have accountability, to have encouragement, to have a place to ask questions, to be able to grow with other people, right? There's a lot in the Bible that is great for us to do in our own time with God, but a lot of times we have to take that thing and and actually talk to somebody else about it, actually have a place to ask more questions, to dig deeper, to figure out really what's going on here. And that involves community. We can't just always do it on our own, right? And if you have these five things, you will start understanding the Bible. You will feel more confident, you will feel less intimidated, right? And all the things. So again, that is why I created a free guide for you. And it's called The Five Things That You Need to Truly Understand the Bible. And inside the guide, I walk through the mindset, the tools, how to stay consistent, how to dig deeper, and why community really matters. It's really a summary of this podcast episode. So if you want to start truly understanding the Bible and learning how to study it, this is the best place to start. So go ahead and pause me, do whatever you need to do, go to the link in the show notes and go get it right now. And another thing that's really exciting is that when you go to get this freebie, you're gonna be entered into a monthly giveaway. I do just for my email list alone. So as long as you're on the email list, you're gonna get entered into monthly giveaways, which I'm super excited about. I just wanted something to really say thank you to all of my email list subscribers that are on there and that are reminded about the podcast, that get really great information and and first access to promos and all these fun things. So make sure to go get that freebie right now and it'll be really, really helpful. And so I bet you can tell based off of like what I already talked about, but what's coming next on the podcast is gonna be future episodes like how to start reading the Bible, where to start reading the Bible. We're gonna go over Bible study methods, how to stay consistent, what to write, how to how to Bible highlight, how to journal, what questions you should be asking yourself when you're spending time in scripture, how to apply scripture to daily life, Bible study things for beginners, like Bible study one-on-one. Like I want this to be a class. Like we're going step by step together to help you truly learn and understand the Bible. It's basically gonna become your simple guide on everything you need to really make your Bible study time simple. And so I'm so excited. Make sure to go download the freebie and stay subscribed to be entered into the giveaway. And if you loved this episode, if you are excited about what's coming and you want to share this with a friend, I highly encourage you to share this episode with a friend who also wants to learn more about the Bible with you. And I am just so excited. So let's end in our prayer. God, thank you so much for each and every woman listening to this right now, Lord. Thank you for allowing her to be a part of this podcast, be a part of this platform, Lord. I hope she gained something from it today and is truly excited to now spend more time in scripture to truly understand it, to want to grow in her faith, to want to become closer to you, Lord, to want to really advance as a Christian woman, Lord. And I hope that you're speaking to the minds, the hearts, and the souls of every single person listening to this right now, and that they feel encouraged and inspired and excited to become educated on this topic, Lord. And just please help fill in the gaps where only you can, Lord, and fill them with the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit when I'm not there and really connect with them during their Bible reading time and encourage them to just keep going and keep pursuing it because it's so beautiful. In Jesus' name, amen. So until next time, thank you so much for coming along the journey with me and let's keep stepping into bold faith together.