Loving Jesus and Bible Reading

Is it possible to love Jesus and still find the Bible hard to read?

That’s a question I pondered after I saw this quote on Facebook:

“A huge sign you lost the fire for Jesus is the Bible will be a chore to read.”

—Brent Williamson

I know what he is trying to say. He wants people to understand how important knowing Scripture is to being a disciple of Jesus, and I totally agree with that sentiment. Unfortunately, I cannot get on board with what it actually says.

Let me be honest: I hate this kind of thinking. 

I hate it, not because I doubt the speaker’s sincerity, but because it paints a misleading picture of spiritual formation. This quote suggests that if Bible reading feels like work, then something must be wrong with your faith. 

The sentiment behind the quote resonates with those people who love reading the Bible. They find the discipline of Scripture reading easy, and they routinely read through the Bible every year. 

This same thought is guilt producing for people who struggle reading or who find parts of the Bible dull or who have a busy life and anything more than a verse in a devotional book is difficult to do.

Then we have the reality that there are parts of Scripture that are a chore to read. They are hard to understand. They demand focus and effort. That doesn’t mean your fire has gone out—it might just mean you’re normal.

In fact, it might mean you’re growing.

Discipline, Not Just Emotion

Reading the Bible is a spiritual discipline. That word—discipline—implies something that takes effort, not just emotion. Our flesh resists it. The world distracts us from it. But out of love for Jesus and a desire to follow Him, we show up anyway. 

And that’s exactly what maturity looks like: showing up, even when the feelings aren’t there.

Think about other areas of your life. Doing the dishes isn’t thrilling, but you do it because you love your family. Folding laundry doesn’t light your soul on fire, but it’s an act of care. Likewise, opening your Bible when it feels hard or dry is an act of devotion. It’s a quiet “yes” to Jesus. It’s faith expressed through perseverance.

If anything, reading the Bible when it feels like a chore might be one of the clearest signs that your love for Jesus is real. Because you’re not doing it for a spiritual high. You’re doing it because He’s worth it.

Faith Isn’t Just a Feeling

One of the biggest traps we fall into is evaluating our faith based on how we feel. But faith is revealed not just by emotion—it’s revealed by action. Your commitment to read, study, and meditate on Scripture, even when it’s tough, is a beautiful expression of love and trust. Feelings matter, but they’re not the foundation. Obedience is.

This doesn’t mean Bible reading should always feel like a chore. There will be times when the words leap off the page and speak directly to your heart. But when those moments don’t come, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It just means you’re in a different part of the journey.

Remember: The Bible Was Written For Us, Not To Us

Part of what makes Scripture challenging is that it wasn’t originally written to us. It was written to people in a particular time, place, language, and culture. That means we have to work to understand it. 

Some passages don’t translate easily. 

Some metaphors don’t land clearly.

 But that doesn’t make them irrelevant—it just means they require effort.

Studying the Bible takes patience, humility, and the help of the Holy Spirit. It also helps to use resources—study Bibles, commentaries, and small groups—that bridge the gap between our world and the world of the text. That’s not unspiritual—that’s faithful study.

Fire Is Good, But Faithfulness Is Better

So let’s stop guilting people for struggling with spiritual disciplines. Let’s stop acting like feelings are the only evidence of faith. 

Let’s celebrate the quiet, faithful decisions people make each day to follow Jesus—even when it’s hard.

Fire is good. But faithfulness is better.

Reflection Questions:

1. Have you ever felt guilty for not enjoying Bible reading? Where does that pressure come from?
2. What helps you stay committed to Scripture when your emotions aren’t cooperating?
3. How can you encourage others who feel stuck or discouraged in their spiritual disciplines?

📬 Want more reflections like this? Subscribe to Paul’s Ponderings and join the conversation as we explore what it means to live faithfully in a world full of noise.

Clarity: How Much Influence Should the Bible Have on Morality?

Part of the Clarity Series: Building a Christian Worldview

How much influence should the Bible have on our morality?

This is more than an abstract question—it shapes how we live every day. Whether we’re making personal choices, engaging in culture, or raising children, our view of right and wrong matters deeply.

In Clarity, we’re exploring key topics that shape our worldview. We’ve considered spiritual warfare, the trustworthiness of the Bible, faith and science, political identity, and the End Times. Now we turn to morality—and how Scripture forms it.

This is what I want you to remember: The Bible shapes the beliefs and behaviors of God’s people as we live as salt and light in the world.

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The Lens of Our Worldview

Imagine trying to live out every command in the Bible for a year. That’s exactly what author A.J. Jacobs attempted in The Year of Living Biblically. In a TED Talk, he shared three key takeaways: following rules reshaped his behavior and mindset, sacredness matters, and—perhaps most notably—we all pick and choose the rules we follow.

Jacobs, an agnostic, made value judgments about which biblical commands seemed helpful or harmful. But that raises a deeper question: Who gets to define what’s right and wrong?

Across cultures and religions, morality exists. But a Christian worldview begins with a foundational claim: morality flows from God, our Creator. Romans 2:14–16 reveals that even those without the Law have a moral compass—because all humans are made in God’s image. We were created to reflect His character.

If that’s true, why don’t we all share the same moral convictions? The answer is found in the story the Bible tells.

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The Bible’s Story: Our Moral Foundation

In the beginning, Adam and Eve were created to walk with God and learn from Him what is good. But in Genesis 3, they chose to define good and evil for themselves. That rebellion has echoed through human history ever since.

Still, God didn’t abandon His plan. He called Abraham and formed Israel to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5–6). They were to reflect His holiness and justice through the Law. Yet Israel, like humanity at large, often failed—choosing conformity to the world over obedience to God.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God declared Israel would be a “light to the nations” (Isaiah 42:6). That calling was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, who said, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). And now, Jesus commissions His followers to carry that light, to be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–16).

This is where our morality matters most: we are called to embody God’s character so that the world might see what love and truth look like.

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Biblical Morality Begins with Love

Morality isn’t about legalism—it’s about love. When asked to name the greatest commandment, Jesus responded by quoting Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart… and love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29–31). The Ten Commandments reflect this: the first four teach us how to love God; the last six show us how to love people.

Love is more than a feeling. It’s sacrificial, intentional, and deeply rooted in action. Jesus showed us what this love looks like by washing feet, healing the broken, and dying on the cross (John 13:34–35). Paul echoed this call in Ephesians 5:1–21, urging us to walk in love, truth, and wisdom—to live lives that reflect the light of Christ.

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The Bible’s Role in Shaping Morality

So how much influence should the Bible have on our morality? For followers of Jesus, it’s not just an influence—it’s the foundation. God’s Word reveals His will and character, forming our hearts and habits as we study, worship, and obey.

That doesn’t mean quoting Scripture will always convince others. Many reject the Bible’s authority. But we still influence the world—not by forcing moral codes, but by faithfully living as God’s people. That’s how the early church transformed the Roman Empire, and that’s how we can live as a faithful witness today.

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Living the Truth: A Challenge

This week, read Ephesians 5:1–21.

Ask God to reveal any area where your life isn’t aligned with His love and truth. Then, choose one practical way to show sacrificial love to someone around you. Let your morality shine as a reflection of God’s light in the world.

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Tying It All Together

This Clarity series helps us build a lens through which to view life.

• Spiritual warfare taught us to depend on God’s power.

• The Bible gave us a trustworthy source of truth.

• Science and faith reminded us that reason and revelation work together.

• Politics revealed our identity as citizens of God’s Kingdom.

• The End Times called us to live with purpose.

• And now, morality anchors us in love and holiness, pointing us toward the kind of life that reflects Jesus in a dark world.

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Closing Prayer

• Thank God for the wisdom and truth found in His Word.

• Confess where your morality has been shaped more by culture than by Scripture.

• Ask God to help you live as salt and light, a faithful witness of His love and truth.

If you have questions about what it means to follow Jesus—or if you sense the Holy Spirit calling you deeper—please reach out. Let’s walk this road together, living out a worldview shaped by Scripture, and shining God’s light in a world longing for clarity.

Clarity: Can I Trust the Bible?

Welcome back to our blog series, Clarity, where we’re building a Christian worldview to navigate life’s toughest topics. In our first post, we explored spiritual warfare, learning from Ephesians 6:10-20 that our role is to rely on God and stand firm. Now, we’re tackling a foundational question: Can I trust the Bible? If we’re going to lean on Scripture to shape our understanding of reality—whether it’s spiritual battles or daily decisions—we need confidence in its reliability. Let’s dive into this with humility, recognizing I’m not an expert but a fellow traveler piecing together insights from God’s Word and solid resources. (If you’d like to dig deeper, I’ll share some recommendations at the end.)

Where Do We Turn for Answers?

Think about how we handle questions today. In 2022, Americans googled everything from “What to watch?” (109 million searches) to “Where’s my refund?” (89 million) to “How many ounces in a cup?” (32 million). Google, Siri, and Alexa are our go-to problem-solvers. But as Christians, when we face questions about God, the world, or what it means to follow Jesus, we’re called to a different source: the Bible. It’s not just a book of ancient stories—it’s God’s guide for His people.

Paul, writing to his protégé Timothy, puts it this way in 2 Timothy 3:14-17: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of… how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Paul’s point? The Bible equips us with truth to live rightly—but only if we trust it. That’s why this question matters. Since much of our worldview hinges on Scripture, we need to establish its trustworthiness upfront.

Two Truths to Frame Our Approach

Before we dive into evidence, let’s anchor ourselves with two key truths about the Bible. First, as Dan Kimball writes in How (Not) to Read the Bible, “The Bible was written for us, not to us.” It’s God’s truth for His people, but we aren’t the original audience. Take Genesis 1:1—“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Our modern picture of the cosmos differs from an Israelite’s 3,000 years ago. Or consider Leviticus, where bats are listed among unclean “birds”—their categories don’t match ours. When something feels confusing, it’s often a signal we’re missing the original context. That’s not a flaw; it’s an invitation to dig deeper.

Second, every word in our Bible is translated. From Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to English, teams of scholars labor to preserve the text’s meaning. Are nuances lost? Sometimes. But their commitment ensures we can trust the Bibles we hold. So, with these truths in mind—context matters, and translation is reliable—let’s explore why we can trust Scripture.

Three Lines of Evidence

To build confidence in the Bible, we’ll look at three pillars: manuscript evidence, archaeological evidence, and cohesion evidence.

1. Manuscript Evidence: A Wealth of Copies
   When evaluating ancient texts, scholars ask: How many copies exist, and how close are they to the originals? Compare the Bible to other ancient works. Caesar’s Gallic Wars? Ten manuscripts. Homer’s Iliad? 643. The Old Testament boasts over 11,000 manuscripts, while the New Testament has 5,700—far more than any ancient text. Even better, some New Testament manuscripts date within 100 years of their writing, while other classics were copied centuries later. With so many copies—fragments to full texts—scholars can cross-check them. The result? The New Testament is 99.5% accurate, and the Old Testament is remarkably consistent. This isn’t a game of telephone; it’s a carefully preserved record.
2. Archaeological Evidence: History Confirmed
   Archaeology keeps uncovering the Bible’s historical roots. Take the Mesha Stele, discovered in 1868 but newly analyzed in January 2023. This stone recounts King Mesha of Moab warring with Israel, aligning with 2 Kings 3, and mentions the “House of David” and Israel’s God. Or consider a 2007 find: a monument celebrating Hezekiah’s pools in Jerusalem, echoing 2 Kings 20:20. Then there’s a tiny lead tablet from Mount Ebal, excavated decades ago but only recently readable via CAT scan. Dated 1200-1400 BC, it bears a curse—“Cursed, cursed, cursed—cursed by the God YHW”—matching Joshua 8’s account. These are just snapshots; hundreds of discoveries affirm the Bible’s historical reliability.
3. Cohesion Evidence: A Unified Story
   Spanning centuries, penned by dozens of authors, the Bible tells one cohesive story: God’s plan to redeem creation through Jesus. From Genesis 3:15’s promise of a serpent-crusher to Genesis 12’s call to Abraham, from Israel’s role to Jesus’ arrival, and the Gospel spreading worldwide—it’s seamless. Its moral core—“Love God, love people”—threads through Old and New Testaments. God’s heart for Gentiles shines in both the prophets and Acts. This unity across time and cultures is extraordinary, a testament to divine guidance.

The Bible’s Living Power

Hebrews 4:12 adds another layer: “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” The Bible doesn’t just inform—it reveals truth we’d miss otherwise. It shows us God, exposes the world’s brokenness, and unveils our own hearts. When we trust it, it shapes us into God’s people.

The Big Idea: Trustworthy Truth for Life

Here’s the takeaway: We can trust the Bible to give us the truth we need to live as God’s people. It’s not like other ancient books—its preservation, historical backing, and unified narrative set it apart. We can be confident this is the book God intended for us.

Your Challenge

So, what’s next? Find a Bible reading plan and start engaging with Scripture. Whether it’s a “Bible in a Year” plan or a slower dive into a single book, let God’s Word speak. It’s not just reliable—it’s alive, ready to guide you into truth.

Why This Matters for Our Worldview

In our Clarity series, we’re constructing a Christian worldview. Last time, we saw spiritual warfare requires reliance on God. Now, we’ve established the Bible as our trustworthy foundation. It’s not Google or cultural trends we turn to—it’s Scripture, revealing reality as God sees it. As we move forward, this confidence will anchor us through life’s tough topics.

Resources to Explore:

• How (Not) to Read the Bible by Dan Kimball
• The Bible Project (videos and podcasts)
• Evidence That Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell

Getting Out of the Dark

 “But somehow he was comforted. It was rather splendid to be wearing a blade made in Gondolin for the goblin-wars of which so many songs had sung; and also he had noticed that such weapons made a great impression on goblins that came upon them suddenly.

“’Go back?’ he thought. ‘No good at all! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do!’ So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall, and his heart all of a patter and a pitter.”
— The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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Bilbo Baggins was in over his head. Far from the warm glow of his hobbit hole in the Shire, he was lost in the shadowy depths of the Misty Mountains. His friends were nowhere to be found, and worse, goblins were on his trail. Alone in the dark, he faced a moment of reckoning.

As panic crept in, Bilbo’s hand brushed against the elvish dagger at his side—Sting, a weapon crafted for legendary wars. It wasn’t much, and he was no warrior, but holding it sparked something in him. That small glimmer of courage was enough to push him forward through the suffocating blackness.

Sound familiar? We all have those days—moments when life feels like a cave with no exit. The questions pile up: What now? Where do I turn? Who’s got my back? When everything feels uncertain and overwhelming, Bilbo’s story offers a surprising lifeline.

For Bilbo, Sting wasn’t just a blade—it was a symbol of hope, a tool that unsettled his enemies and steadied his nerves. But the Bible hands us something far sharper and more powerful:

“For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12, CSB)

God’s Word cuts deeper than any weapon. It slices through confusion, exposes the enemy’s lies, and lights the way when we’re stumbling in the dark. The more we lean into Scripture—letting it sink into our minds and hearts—the stronger we become to face whatever’s ahead.

With Sting in hand, Bilbo weighed his options. Going back wasn’t possible; the goblins were behind him. Sideways? The cave walls said no. Forward was the only path, so he took it—one shaky step at a time.

The Apostle Paul had a similar mindset:

“Brothers and sisters, I don’t consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:13-14, CSB)

Like Bilbo, we can’t rewind time. The past—whether it’s regrets or even a comfortable yesterday—can’t be our anchor. Clinging too hard to what was blinds us to what could be. The only way out is forward, trusting God’s lead.

So, if you find yourself in a dark place—lost, scared, or alone—don’t throw in the towel. Pick up your sword. Open the Bible and let its truth steady you. Then take that next step, wherever He points you.

Bilbo did it. You can too.