I’m New to the Bible. Where do I Start?

If you are brand new to the Bible, we are so glad you’re here! We understand what it can feel like to start making sense of the Bible. It can often feel intimidating and overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be.

You may be asking, “But how? Where do I start!?!” We want to come alongside you to help show you what you can do to get more familiar with the Bible and ultimately discover its life-giving message.

Here are a few tips to get started on your journey with the Bible. We know you’re going to love what you uncover in God’s Word!

8 TIPS IF YOU’RE BRAND NEW TO THE BIBLE

1. Trust the Bible

If you’re new to the Bible, you may not know how we got it, why to trust it, or even its purpose. But it IS trustworthy! And in order to get the most out of it, it helps that you trust that when it says “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV), that you know it really is! Our hope is that you come to trust the Bible and understand that it’s about God and His love for us. To learn more about the Bible, its purpose and how we got it, check out the article: Intro to the Bible.

2. Set Aside Time

Your schedule is busy. Pick a time of day and amount of time that works for you to read your Bible. This is often referred to as having “quiet time” with God. This looks different for each of us. Sometimes it is 15 minutes and sometimes it can extend to longer. Just know, the more time you spend in the Bible the more you’ll want to! You can understand the Bible, but this won’t happen without the Holy Spirit’s guidance or any effort on your part.

3. No Rules

Give yourself some grace as you start to read the Bible. Don’t put pressure on yourself to read “2 chapters a day” and then get discouraged when you miss a day. There are no rules when it comes to how often you should read or how much you should read. God just wants a relationship with you, and you learn more about Him when you read the Bible. So take the pressure off to make a hard set of rules you have to follow and approach the Bible the way you would with any personal relationship. You’ll find that the more you come to know God as you read scripture, the more you’ll crave to be in His Word.

4. Pray

Prayer may be the single most important thing you do when you read your Bible. Asking the Lord to meet you in His Word and reveal Himself on every page takes your Bible study from an intellectual pursuit to a personal one. From a “have to” to a “get to.” Pray for an understanding heart and a renewed mind as you study God’s Word.

5. Find a Preferred Bible Translation (or two)

Diving into the Bible can be easier when you read it in a language you understand. Familiarize yourself with different Bible translations and consider what Bible version you like - whether its the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), English Standard Version (ESV), New King James Version (NKJV), New International Version (NIV), and New Living Translation (NLT) or others. You may even want to access a few different versions as you study. For free access to multiple Bible versions, download the YouVersion app or online at BibleGateway.com. Find out more details around Bible translations - how we got it and the differences between the versions - in our How to Choose a Bible Version article.

6. Start Simple

If you have never read the Bible, don’t feel like you have to read the entire Bible from front to back in your first sitting. Start simple by reading it to become familiar with it. We always encourage one of the Gospel books first (Matthew, Mark, Luke or John), but here are a few other places to start:

The Book of John (New Testament) - Learn about the life of Jesus from John, who was the “disciple whom Jesus loved” and see how John presents Jesus as God
The Book of Luke (New Testament) - Learn about the life of Jesus from Luke, who studied the myriad accounts of those close to Christ and highlighted many of Jesus’ teachings
The Books of Genesis & Exodus (Old Testament) - Learn about the beginning of creation and get introduced to the Israelite people who we read about throughout the entire Old Testament.
The Books of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians or Colossians (New Testament) - the apostle Paul wrote specific letters to the early churches that provided insight, encouragement, and guidance as they grew in their faith in Jesus, and it can do the same for us today.

As you are first reading the Bible, the hope is that you start to become familiar with it. Over time you may get to a place where you want to read the entire Bible. When you do this, we recommend reading it from beginning to end - from Genesis to Revelation or in chronological order - to be able to grasp the cohesive story it tells all together.But that may take time to work up to. Keep it simple. We don’t want you overwhelmed before you’ve even started! Set easy goals for your Bible reading that you know will fit your schedule and where you are in your relationship to the Bible.

7. Get Familiar with the Story of the Bible

The Bible is a big book. If you read the Bible for 15 minutes a day you can get through the entire Bible in 1 year. But that can be overwhelming if you’re just starting out. So at bare minimum, we suggest that you get familiar with the overarching story of the Bible and its layout, even if you haven’t read it all the way through. Once you are familiar with the unified story of the Bible, you’ll be able to understand where you are in the story as you go to read it more in depth. How? Check out these resources we offer that can help:

Bible's Big Story Printable - this one-page printable gives a bird’s eye view to the story of the Bible
Bible’s Big Story Article - this article goes in more depth outlining the full story of the Bible.
Layout of the Bible - starting with the Bible’s table of contents, understand how each book fits into the bigger story of the Bible.
The Chronological Order of the Bible - because the 66 books of the Bible aren’t in perfect chronological order, we offer some visual graphics that show when the books of the Bible took place

8. Be Patient

Be patient and present as you ask the Lord to meet you in His Word. Give yourself time to learn. Everything won’t be uncovered in one day. Don’t be hard on yourself as you step into a relationship with God’s Word and grow to hunger and thirst for it more each day!