Where to start in the Bible?

 

Hello friend! Welcome to The Other World! I am so excited to have you here! Today we are doing another post in the Bible 101 post series here on Substack. Here I want to share helpful tips and resources to help you on your Bible reading journey.

My heart is for you to fall in love with the Bible and spend time with Jesus! I want you to know that the Bible is the TRUTH. I want you to seek out God’s word for yourself. Read the Bible—not just a verse but the WHOLE THING.

“I don’t know where to start reading the Bible? Where is the best place to start?”

Where to start?

The Bible is the best book to ever exist. It is God’s book—His words written down for us. Of all the things He could have told us, the Bible is what He wanted us to know. This is such an amazing book, I encourage you to read the WHOLE THING cover to cover.

That being said I do want to share with you a few book recommendations on where to start reading the Bible if you are a new Christian or just are new to reading the Bible. I truly hope this helps you in growing in understanding and in getting to know Jesus better!

The Gospels

The first place I encourage you to read is the Gospels. These are the first four books in the New Testament. These books tell you about Jesus which is the most important thing in laying the foundation for your faith. You need to believe in Jesus, that He is Lord and Savior, the Son of God and that He died and rose again on the third day. That is salvation. You need to know this story because this is truly the foundation of our faith.

I recommend reading all of the Gospels together. They all tell the same story but from different perspectives. Matthew and Luke share the birth of Christ. All of them tell the story of the death and resurrection of Christ.

I’ve heard the books described as this:

• Matthew | what Jesus said
• Mark | what Jesus did
• Luke | what Jesus felt
• John | who Jesus is

John

Since I was young, I have always heard that the book you recommend to new believers to read first is John. You are right with Jesus from the start of the book. John opens with showing how Jesus was there from the beginning of creation (which is told in Genesis and would be good to read paired with this book). 

Ephesians

Ephesians shows us how to live a holy life. How to be separate from the world belonging to Christ and His kingdom. Here we learn about the spiritual battle we face and how to fight with the armor of God.

Hebrews

In Hebrews we learn about our need for salvation and the importance of running your race (keeping to the faith) with endurance. We see our need for Jesus and God’s Word.

1 John

1 John shows us what it looks like to be a Christian living in a sinful world and how we stay walking in the light (connected to Jesus and the Word of Life).

Psalms

How to pray and feel your emotions with God. You don’t have to hide your feelings or emotions from God—He already knows. Be open with God about your struggles, fears, and worries and remember all that He has done for you and how good He is. Remind yourself of the goodness of God. Open up to Him in your prayers.

Proverbs

Proverbs is the wisdom book of the Bible. It is a father (Solomon) telling his son how to live well (then the last chapter is a mother telling her son how to find a good wife). It is a book of wisdom that will bless your life if you take it on.

If you want, you can try the “Proverbs challenge” where you read a proverb every day for a month. There are 31 chapters in proverbs so if you read one a day you will finish the book in about a month when doing this challenge.

 

What now?

I encourage you to choose one of these books to read (honestly, I say you should read the whole Bible in its entirety) and start studying and reading out the Bible! The Bible is food to the soul and truly is life changing. 

I encourage you to read the Bible each and every day!

I hope this helps you! If you have any other Bible questions or tips you would like me to answer, then please leave a comment or message me.

Want to read the Bible with me? I am about to start a Bible Study through the book of Ephesians! The first episode in the Bible Study is currently available wherever you listen to podcasts! 

Your sister in Christ, Moriyah