50. How to start reading the Bible

If you’ve ever opened the Bible and felt confused, overwhelmed, or unsure where to start, this episode will help you stop overthinking and start taking action in a way that feels simple and doable. 

In this episode of Step Into Bold Faith, Whitney walks you through a simple, beginner-friendly approach to help you start reading the Bible with confidence. 

Whitney shares practical tools, mindset shifts, and an easy step-by-step method to help you get started today. You’ll walk away knowing exactly where to start, how to stay consistent, and how to make your time in the Word meaningful.

If you’ve been asking questions like:

• Where do I start in the Bible? 
• How do I actually read the Bible? 
• Why don’t I understand what I’m reading in the bible? 
• Should I start in Genesis (the first book of the Bible) or somewhere else? 
• What Bible version should I use? 
• How do I study the Bible, not just read it? 
• How do I get something out of the Bible every time I read it? 

This episode is for you!

Take the Next Step on Your Bible Study Journey:

1. Bible Study Made Just for You is a 6-week 1:1 coaching program with Whitney where the Bible transforms your life and takes your faith to the next level as a Christian woman. *only 5 spots*

2. The Bible Study Made Simple community is where you learn about the Bible and make it a priority so your faith grows as a Christian woman.

3. The Bible Study Made Simple guide is where you learn what to do every time you read the Bible, so you actually understand it.

4. These are the best Bible study tools on Amazon that will help you start reading the Bible with confidence.

5. Follow Whitney on TikTok @stepintoboldfaith for simple Bible study tips, encouragement, and practical help to grow in your faith.

Transcript

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Have you ever tried to open your Bible and you were like, I just don't even know where to start? Or maybe you've been thinking about starting, but you just have no idea where to begin. And I just know how hard this is. Trust me, I was there not that long ago. I became Christian less than a year ago, and I started reading the Bible. And I've tried to read the Bible a few different times, and what I'm doing now has been so much more successful in my Bible reading time. But I just know how hard it is to get started and to know exactly what to do and like what the right steps are to even take when you want to start reading the Bible because it is so overwhelming, right? Like it's a big book, like it's a giant piece of text and it can be super overwhelming. And a lot of people will try to start it and they don't get into it, or you know, maybe they are just not sure what they're even gonna get from it, and then they stop. So I just want you to know by the end of this episode, you're going to learn exactly where to start reading in the Bible. You're gonna understand why most people struggle with reading the Bible and how you can overcome that. You're gonna learn a simple approach that actually works to reading the Bible, and you're gonna really start feeling confident and know how to open your Bible and really start reading it without feeling super overwhelmed. So this is such a great starting point for you. So I'm so excited to get into today's episode. And so let's get into it. So, welcome to Step into Bold Faith. I'm Whitney Gardner, I'm your host, and I help Christian women learn how to read, study, understand, and apply the Bible in simple, practical ways so you can become confident spending time in God's Word on your own. And this podcast is really going to be like a Bible study one-on-one course where I'm walking you through everything you need to know step by step in a way that actually makes sense. So if you've ever felt confused, overwhelmed, unsure where to start with reading your Bible, learning about the Bible, understanding the Bible, you are in the right place. So I'm so excited you're here and that God connected us. And so I just really want to start out this episode by sharing a little bit about my own personal experience with my Bible reading time and how I've really evolved throughout my time reading the Bible. Because I think a lot of people are going to relate to this or at least maybe, you know, can can kind of picture it more. So when I first tried started trying to read the Bible, I genuinely had no idea what I was doing. I remember thinking, like, okay, good Christians, like they read the Bible, they're in the Bible. Like, let me just start with something. So I started on my phone and I started in the Bible app. And I started in Genesis because I wanted to do one of those like Bible in a year plans. So I started with that, with the Bible recap with the Terra Lee Cobbins, Coblins. I can't remember her last name right now. I'm always so bad at pronouncing it. I feel like I've tried to pronounce it in other episodes and I'm like, I can't remember what her last name is, but Terry Cobble, maybe actually. And so, anyways, so she does the Bible recap plans. And I started doing that, and each one had like a video associated with it, certain parts of the text you were supposed to read. Like it was very informational, but I don't necessarily would say it was super helpful for me. Like I didn't get into the word, like like I didn't truly love reading the word that way. And so I started this reading plan and eventually lost interest and stopped after like two or three books into the Bible because I was like, this is just taking up a lot of time, like watching all these videos, trying to keep up with it. It was a lot of pressure. It just didn't feel great for me. And I just think that number one, reading it on my phone was not what I was supposed to be doing. It was really just like not super helpful to read it on your phone because you can't really like physically get into it, you know, like having something physical in your hands is so helpful. And also trying to start in Genesis, that was not the best place to start. And also trying to keep up with all these, this plan, like on a strict timeline, that was not the most helpful thing. And trying to like watch all these recap videos, and I felt like I was just sucking up so much of my time when really I just wanted to like understand the word for myself, you know, instead of somebody else trying to teach it to me. So, like I said, I started doing that for a while, but I stopped a few books in. It took me a while to get back into reading the Bible. And then the second time I really got into the Bible was very recently, and this is all the stuff that I now teach and what I want to help you learn because it really helped me to actually care about reading the Bible, to be in there every day, to understand what I was reading, to apply scripture to my life, to really make this a part of my daily habit, my daily process, my daily routine. And it's because a lot of people just are so lost and confused. Like we are just not educated on how to read the Bible, where to start, what to do when we open it, right? So that was just kind of like an overview of my story about what I did. And I just did not even understand it, even with all those videos. Like I felt like I just couldn't get connected to it, you know? And so it really just you got to get in a deeper level with it and do certain things to really make that happen for yourself. And it really just is so overwhelming when you first open the Bible. Like, say this is your first time listening to this podcast, and you're like, I really want to start reading the Bible. Like, I just became Christian, or I just want to start reading the Bible because I've heard it's really valuable for my life, you know. That's really what I want to help you do today. So, first of all, I want to talk about the tools that you'll need. The biggest thing, number one, I kind of hinted at this earlier, but it's having a physical Bible, not the Bible app on your phone for your for your all the time reading, right? Like, so for your daily time spent in the Word, you need to do it with a physical Bible. Your your other phone app can be great to look up like different translations because there's different types of Bibles out there. And so some are more advanced, some are less advanced. But the Bible that you have all the time, it should be a version that you really feel connected to that you feel like is easy to read for you, at least at the beginning, right? So we can always progress and we can always like up-level into the more advanced Bibles later, or like maybe I know a really good friend who is given a Bible, but it's a super high-level Bible and she just doesn't feel connected to it. And I'm like, start with a lower, you know, a lower Bible. So the one I personally use, it's called a Christian standard Bible. I honestly love it because it's really easy to read and understand, and it's not super high level. Like you can read it and still kind of understand what's going on. It's like a good stepping stone, right? It's like we're we're going from zero to a hundred percent if we're in like New King James and like some of these other more high-level Bibles, versus if you get like a Christian standard Bible like I have, you can really just like ease into your time in the Word. It could become like less pressure for you to feel like you actually have somewhere to start that feels better for you. And so some Bibles are more literal, some are more readable, they're easier to understand. That's like the Christian standard Bible, like I have. And I'm gonna be working on a really awesome free resource for you that has like a link list to all of my different favorite Bible study tools, resources, all the things. So stay tuned for that. It's gonna be really, really good. I'm working on it currently. And so my Bible, the one I use, is gonna be on there on the link list. So make sure to stay tuned for that. But you know, maybe if you tried in the past to read the Bible and it felt really hard to understand, it might not have just been even your perspective on it. It could have been the version you were reading. So make sure to really look at it and see what feels good to you and what you actually feel like you could get something from. So the next thing about the Bible thing, again, having a physical Bible versus your phone. So I actually did a post about this the other day on TikTok and Instagram at Step Into Bold Faith, but I was talking about how a lot of times we get distracted, right? And it's so easy to get distracted when we're reading our Bibles because it is like one of those things, you know, we really have to like pour into it and we really have to sit there and focus and pay attention. And so a lot of times when people start trying to read the Bible on their phone, it's not as successful because the phone is such a distraction, right? Like there's so many notifications that are going off. It's it's harder to like highlight in there and take notes or go back to things and reference things. And when you're in just the Bible, you can literally have the Bible right in front of you and you can silence all your other distractions, all your other devices, and you can only have that in front of you, right? But if you're trying to read the Bible on your phone, it's still attached to all these other things, right? It's like even if your notifications are silenced or whatever, it's like that the whole phone still has so much going on with it, right? So we want to just ease into it and really just focus on the Bible itself, and we can do that through having a physical Bible that's just right in front of us and the only thing that we are focused on in that moment. So the other thing I want to talk about with the tools you'll need is this concept of the five things that you really need to truly read and understand the Bible. So this is like my favorite thing that I like to teach on. I have another free guide just on this alone, the five things you need to understand the Bible. So make sure to head to the link in the comment or the link in the show notes and you can get this too. But before we even go to start trying to read the Bible, I want you to keep these things in mind. Okay. This is very important. So, number one is having the right mindset. It's the fact that when we're thinking about wanting to read the Bible, we don't have to understand everything at once. We can piece it together little by little every day. And each day we can get one step closer to learning about God, to learning about his character, to becoming more like Jesus, right? Doing all the things that the Bible is supposed to be doing for us, but we don't have to do it all in one day. It can be like little by little over time. So really having the right mindset. And along with the mindset is also including God into this and like really praying and asking for what you need from it. If you're just starting reading the Bible, like, God, what should I do when I'm reading the Bible? Like, where do you want me to go? Like, what what should I, what kind of a mindset should I have? Like be asking him these kind of questions and inviting the Holy Spirit into your time in your Bible reading. Number two is having a really like simple method to read the Bible. So we're gonna be going over all these in detail in later podcast episodes. So make sure to follow or subscribe to the show. Having a simple method is really important because you want to make sure that you actually have a process. Every time you open your Bible, you know exactly what you should be doing. And then the third one is consistency. Like, if we're not spending at least five minutes a day in the Word and just to build that habit at first, at least, like it's so easy to like get on the bandwagon, fall off the bandwagon, get back on the bandwagon, we fall off the bandwagon, right? But we want this to be like a long game. Like this, this Bible reading journey, it is a journey, and it is something that we are going to have to do as Christians like almost every day for the rest of our lives. And so it's just all about that consistency. And some days, like you're gonna have more time, some days you're gonna have less time, but making sure you're consistent is really, really important. And then number four to this out of these five things is asking the right questions and really trying to dig deeper and asking for God's help. Like ask him for what you need, like ask the right questions when you're journaling as you're going through the Bible and trying to like read and understand it, not just like passively reading it, but like actually trying to ask yourself the right questions. And then number five here is the community. Like, you're not meant to have to figure out the Bible all by yourself or read it all by yourself. Like there are communities, there are people around you that want to support you, want to uplift you, that want to give you the right resources and the right guidance. And as an example, I have that. I host the Step Into Bold Faith Collective, and this is a guided community for Christian women to learn how to read and understand the Bible at a deep level, but also in a way that's really simple and easy. And like we take it month by month where I give you certain themes or reading plans or questions that you should answer, or like a video style devotional where you can actually apply the word to your daily life. So if you're interested in that as well, I also have that linked in the show notes or linked in the comments. And so again, we're gonna be going over all five of these things in later podcast episodes, but this is just something to keep in mind, is just keeping it really realistic and starting with these things is important for you to know when you are starting to read the Bible. Okay. So another part to this is why should we be reading the Bible anyways? Like, why should we be doing this? Why are we spending all this time doing this? And it's not just to check a box, it's not just to say, oh, I read the Bible today. It's really to understand who God is, his character, what Jesus did, the miracles he performed, how he lived his life, how we're supposed to live our lives as Christians, right? What is the right way to live? It's all in the Bible. Like all these questions that we've had answers to, all these questions that we've been wondering where the answers are our whole lives are all in the Bible. They can all be found there. And there is so much good knowledge because God wanted us to have like a handbook. He wanted us to have this reference guide to know him and to know how we're to live our lives. And that is why this is so important. And then going back to why a lot of people struggle with the Bible, it is because a lot of times people start in the wrong place or they read too much at once, or they don't understand what they're reading, or they don't know what to look for, or they don't have a simple system. They start in different things that feel overwhelming, or like they have to keep up, like I did, or they start with the wrong tools like I did, right? And so we're gonna be really uncovering all these and really helping you overcome these in future episodes as well. And so now I want to get into where we should be starting when we want to read the Bible. Like you're like, I'm ready to go, Whitney. I understand my five things I need to know to understand the Bible. I have the right mindset, I'm ready to have a method, I'm ready to be consistent, I'm ready to ask the right questions, I have my community, right? I have everything around me to support me in my Bible reading time. Where do I start? I recommend that you start in the book of John. So in John, it focuses on who Jesus is, what he taught, how he lived his life, why he came to save us. And it is so clear, powerful, easy to follow. And it's so, so helpful and beneficial. And we always joke in Bible study class, it's like John has all the tea. Like he is like pouring out the tea, like he is so fun because there's so much in John that you can just constantly be uncovering. So I always recommend that people start in John. And then what if you're like, okay, well, I've already read John, or you know, I what else is next, right? So go to John, read John, just keep an open mind, keep in mind your five things, right? And then what I recommend after you just read John to start getting your feet kind of wet, your toes are getting dipped in the water, right? We're going back into Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These are the four Gospels, and this is all about the life of Jesus. And this is why it's so important that we start the New Testament with these four so you can learn about Jesus because this is so important, right? As a Christian, this is our whole point. It's like all about it's all about Jesus. So we're going back to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And then when you go back to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, after just reading John, you're gonna start your Bible study method, highlighting, journaling, your questions, like really getting deep into the word. Again, I'm gonna go over a lot of these different things in future episodes, but just start with reading John and then go through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and then have that as like your first goal. Like try to get through those four books with your Bible study methods and all the things that you'll learn later on, and then finish out the New Testament and then go back into the Old Testament and start with Genesis and read that in order. And again, it this order works because you really learn again about Jesus, you learn about his life. Everything makes more sense because it's connected to this story and it gives a lot of context. And the Bible is like one full story, but there's also it's called a meta-narrative, it's a full story, but also within each book, each book is also a story. And so there's like many stories inside of the big story. So it's really, really important that we do it this way so we can become intrigued, learn about Jesus, go back, understand his life, all the things that he did, why he came to save us, how we should live our lives. Like in Matthew, I believe, it's the whole Sermon on the Mount where he talks about like everything we need to be doing to live our lives. Like, so good. We just did a whole buddy Bible study series on Sermon on the Mount, and it was so, so good. So this is just an example. So say you're like, okay, I'm ready to start doing this right. So as an example, like tomorrow morning, you could go and you could open John, read it slow, do not rush, just start noticing what stands out to you. Maybe underline something, maybe write a question you have, you know, but don't put a lot of pressure on it. Just go in with an open mind. Start in John, be ready to like soak it in, whatever it brings you, right? And so just start there. Just start somewhere, right? It's so important for us to just start. And if we want to read the Bible, we got to do it, right? And have the right tools. And before you do this, again, go get a physical Bible. Again, I'm gonna link the one that I have soon. And so you have a reference of all the tools that I used that I use like every day that I recommend. But if you don't, you can start in your phone. But definitely I encourage you to get a physical Bible, but just start there, right? And so I am so excited for you to go on this Bible reading journey. Like I said, it is a journey, like there is no destination because the Bible, it's called a living word. And so every time we go into it, something new is revealed to us. Like I go back to parts of the Bible that I've literally already read and gone through and looked at like all these notes that I made. And I'm like, I literally don't even remember doing that. And like I'll look at that section and I automatically just see something totally new that I didn't even see the first time. So it's like this is a forever journey, and we just have to start really like enjoying the journey and like having fun with it and just really enjoying it. It's gonna be so fun. And so there's so much to learn about it. And so that is really what this podcast is gonna do too. It's gonna really help you learn how to understand the Bible in like simple, practical ways. So we are starting with, like I said, this was episode number one, where to start if you want to read the Bible, right? So I am so excited for you to start reading your Bible, to start getting into the word. I hope this was so helpful. And so again, today we talked all about why reading the Bible matters, why people struggle with it, how to choose the right Bible, where to start, what order to read the Bible in, how to begin with simple steps. So again, I had so many different things that I have for you throughout this episode, but I really think that the most important next step, once I have that linked list, is to go get the right tools and resources, but also to grab that free guide that I have called The Five Things You Need to Truly Understand the Bible. And so this will give you more of an overview of that five-step process that'll be really helpful too. And so you can get those things through the link in the comments or in the link in the show notes. So at the end of every episode, I always end in a prayer for us, and it's super fun. And we just want to invite the Holy Spirit into our Bible reading time. So let's do it. God, thank you so much for each and every person who has been brought to this podcast by you, Lord, and this YouTube by you, Lord. The fact that they are ready to start reading the Bible, Lord, we want to celebrate them, we want to encourage them, we want to uplift them, Lord. We want to help them to read and understand the Bible and spend time in your word and know how valuable it is, Lord, and help them just connect with you and your presence as they are reading and just find so much value from it as they are reading it and just feel so excited for this beautiful journey that lies ahead with their Bible reading time and trying to become more like Jesus and learning about the ways that you want us to live our lives as Christians and just really changing who we become and the way that we think and the way that we serve people and the lives that we're living, Lord. We're just so appreciative for you and this living word and just what a gift you have given us. And we just love you so much. In Jesus' name, amen. So again, I'm so glad you're here. I'm so glad God connected us. And so until next time, I hope you have a great rest of your day. And thank you for coming along the journey with me. Bye.