How Not to Read the Bible: Avoid These Deadly Mistakes

I still feel a bit bad when I think about my first real try at reading the Bible. For instance, I was in college. A mentor I liked a lot told me, “You have to read the whole Bible from front to back. It’s the only way.” I believed him completely. Indeed, the stories were great! I kept going through Exodus. But then I got to Leviticus. The great story I was reading suddenly changed. For example, it talked about skin problems and rules for sacrifices. It took me a long time, however, to see that my way of reading was the problem. I had learned the hard way how not to read the bible.

If you have ever felt like that, I want you to know you’re normal! Feeling stuck, confused, or bored is very common. The problem is not your faith. Instead, the problem is your plan. The Bible is not a regular book. In fact, it is a library with 66 different books. They were written over 1,500 years. Furthermore, they were written in different languages to different groups of people. It has poems, history, letters, and laws. Knowing what not to do is often the best first step to learn what to do.

This guide is a friendly talk about those common problems. In other words, it is a “what not to do” list. It will save you from the sad and guilty feelings I had. Sometimes, learning the wrong way to do something is the best way to find the right way. Learning how not to read the bible is the first step to truly enjoying it. So, let’s look at some of these big mistakes together.

Mistake #1: Reading the Bible Straight Through from Cover to Cover

This is the top mistake people make. It is the mistake I made. We think the Bible is one book, so we think we should start on page one and read to the end. But it is a library. Reading it from front to back is not a good plan for a new reader.

The Problem with This Method and Why It’s How Not to Read the Bible

Think about getting to know a new city. What if you started on the far north street and drove down every single road? You would get stuck in factory areas and on confusing side streets. You would likely give up. In fact, you might never see the nice downtown or the best parts. Reading the Bible from front to back is like that. Genesis and Exodus are fun. But Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are old law books. They are very important. However, they are not the best place for a new reader to get excited.

A Better Strategy for Where to Start Reading

Do not start at the start of the whole library. Instead, start with the main person: Jesus. The four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are the best place to start. They tell the story of his life. I always say to start with the Gospel of Mark. It is short and full of action. It gives you a great look at who Jesus is. After that, read the Gospel of John. You will get a deeper look at who he is. Starting with Jesus shows you the main person in the library. Then you can see how the other books connect to him.

How Not to Read the Bible: Mistake #2: Taking Verses Out of Context

This mistake is very common. You have likely seen it many times on social media or a coffee mug. Someone takes one nice verse. Then, they lift it out of its first setting. This is a very unsafe example of how not to read the bible.

Forgetting Who the Bible Was Originally Written For

Every book in the Bible was written to a certain group of people. It was at a certain time in history for a certain reason. Before we can ask, “What does this mean for me?” we must first ask, “What did this mean to them?”

For example, take the famous verse, Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” People often use this verse to mean they can reach any goal. They might think of winning a football game or getting a new job.

But if you read the verses around it, you see the writer, Paul, is talking about something else. He says he has learned to be happy if he is hungry or full. He is also happy if he has a lot or a little. The “all things” he talks about, therefore, is getting through any hard time with God’s help. That is a much deeper and stronger meaning than just reaching our own goals. If we miss the context, we change the whole meaning.

How Not to Read the Bible: The Danger of Ignoring the Surrounding Chapter

The verses before and after a line are called the context. They are very important for knowing the true meaning. Taking a verse by itself is like hearing one line from a long talk. Then you try to guess what the whole talk was about. You will almost for sure get it wrong.

Before you try to understand one verse, it is a great habit to read the whole chapter. This simple step can save you from a lot of confusion. A great resource for knowing the context of any book of the Bible is The Bible Project. For instance, they have short, animated videos that explain the story and main ideas of every book. It is a game-changer.

Mistake #3: Using the Bible Like a Magic 8-Ball

You might laugh, but many of us have done this. .You need an answer from God, right now. So, you close your eyes. Then you flip your Bible open to a random page. After that, you point your finger. You think whatever verse your finger lands on must be God’s message for you! This is the “Magic 8-Ball” method. And it is for sure how not to read the bible.

I remember trying this in high school. I was trying to decide if I should ask a girl out. My finger landed on a verse in the Psalms that said, “Her feet go down to death.” I was so scared! Of course, that verse had nothing to do with my problem. This is a perfect illustration of how not to read the bible if you want real answers.

The Bible is not a book of magic spells. It is a book of wisdom. It is meant to be read with thought. Trying to find help by picking verses at random misses the point. In fact, it can lead to very strange and bad ideas.

A much better way to find wisdom is to read a whole chapter of a wisdom book, like Proverbs or Psalms. Or you can read a story and see how the people dealt with their problems. God gives us wisdom through the big ideas and stories of the Bible, not usually through a random verse.

How Not to Read the Bible: Mistake #4: Making It Only About Yourself

In our world today, we are often taught to see everything through our own eyes. So, when we open the Bible, our first and only question is often, “What does this mean for me?” It is good to apply the Bible to our lives. But if that is the only question we ask, we miss the main point. This is another key example of how not to read the bible.

The Bible is, first of all, a story about God. It is His story of who He is. It also tells what He is doing in the world. A much better way to read any part is to ask three questions, in this order:

1. What does this part teach me about God? (Who he is, what he cares about)
2. What does this part teach me about people? (Who we are, our problems, our link to God)
3. Last, what does this part mean for my life? (How should I act based on what I just learned?)

Starting with God changes everything. For example, it changes our reading from being about us to being about God. I have found that when I start by thinking about God, what it means for my own life becomes much clearer. For a great, simple way to help you with this, check out the S.O.A.P. Bible study method. You can find a good explanation of it here: Navigators SOAP Method.

Mistake #5: Believing You Should Only Read the Bible Alone

In our culture, we often think of faith as a private thing. So, we often read the Bible by ourselves. But the Bible was written for groups of people. It is best understood in a group. Trying to understand it all on your own is a huge mistake.

The Benefit of Reading the Bible in a Community

When we talk about a part with other people, we learn from their views, questions, and ideas. Someone else might see something in a verse that you have read a hundred times and never saw. For example, I was in a small group once reading the story of Jesus calming the storm. I had always thought about Jesus’s power. But a friend of mine, who was a new mom and felt stressed all the time, pointed out a detail. Jesus was asleep in the boat. She said, “He was so peaceful he could sleep through a storm. I want that kind of peace.” I had never seen it that way. Her idea changed the story for me forever.

How to Find Encouragement in Your Bible Reading

Reading with other people also helps you stick with it. It is a lot easier to keep reading when you know you will talk about it with friends later. Look for a small group at a local church. Or just ask a friend or two to read a book of the Bible with you. You can also find great groups online. For instance, ministries like Proverbs 31 Ministries offer online Bible studies that are a wonderful way to connect with others.

Mistake #6: Falling into the Bible Reading Guilt Cycle

This last mistake is the one that gets so many of us. It is the bad guilt cycle. It works like this:

1. First, we set a goal that is too big (“I will read for an hour every day!”).
2. Then, we fail to meet that goal.
3. As a result, we feel guilty and like we are bad at being spiritual.
4. We then start to stay away from the Bible, because it just reminds us of our failure.
5. Finally, we feel even more guilty because we know we are not reading it at all.

This cycle is not from God. It turns Bible reading from a good thing into a heavy thing. The goal is not to be perfect. Instead, the goal is a relationship that keeps going. God’s love for you does not depend on a perfect reading record. Putting that kind of pressure on yourself is a core part of how not to read the bible.

The way to break this cycle is with grace. Start small. Really small. Try five minutes a day. Use a reading plan so you do not have to decide what to read. And when you miss a day—which you will—just let it go. Do not try to “catch up.” Instead, just pick up with today’s reading. God’s grace is new every single morning. That, of course, includes the grace to simply start again.

Final Thoughts on “How Not to Read the Bible”: Learning How to Read the Bible with Freedom

We have covered some of the biggest examples of how not to read the bible. From trying to read it from front to back to getting stuck in a cycle of guilt, these are the mistakes that can ruin our good plans.

But here is the good news. Every single one of these mistakes can be dodged. By starting in the right place, by learning to ask good questions, by reading with others, and by giving yourself a lot of grace, you can change Bible reading. It can go from a hard job into one of the best parts of your life. Ultimately, the goal is not to do a task perfectly. The goal is to connect with the person who loves you more than you can know. And He is waiting for you in its pages.

FAQ – How Not to Read the Bible