Sep 25, 2026 Read – Words of Grace Blog – September 25, 2026
In this Words of Grace, I want to deal with a sensitive topic and share a personal secret. That should get your attention!
Seriously, I do so to encourage a portion of our congregation that may struggle with an important spiritual practice that helps us grow in Christ. The topic and testimonial are about reading.
We know that reading is important for doing life. As a pastor, my focus is on the importance of reading for the Christian life. If you struggle with reading and you don’t read the Bible or Christian books much, I want to encourage you.
Reading is for knowing God’s word. We can hear it read as many throughout history did, or we can read it ourselves. Either way, we need it. Reading the Bible and good biblically based books has the advantages of not being dependent on others to read to us, being able to read at any time, and giving us the ability to stop and start at our own pace for reflection, prayer, and personal application.
Why is reading a sensitive topic? Well, it isn’t for those who love to read, read well, and read a lot. But for those of us who read slowly, don’t like to read aloud, have challenges with comprehension, and therefore don’t read much at all, this is a sensitive topic. We may feel embarrassed about our reading and comprehension skills or frustrated that so much of church life is word-based. We may feel less spiritual than others because we don’t read much. Therein is the sensitivity and anxiety around the subject.
You will notice in the paragraph above that I used the words “us” and “we”. Here’s the testimonial part. All the sentences above apply to me. I won’t go into the details of this, but I will say that I am a slow reader and that reading itself has never been a great strength or love in my life. This has been a challenge for me as a pastor because reading is such a vital part of what I do.
Why share this with you? To encourage you to believe that you can read the Bible and a few good books that expound on the spiritual truths of the Bible. You can grow in your reading. If I can, you can. Here are a few thoughts about reading for spiritual growth.
Just read. Stop worrying about how much or how fast you read. And stop comparing yourself to others. Preachers are terrible with this. We’ve heard about the famous theologians and pastors who read several books a week. But most of us are not like them. In fact, one of them, Charles Spurgeon, said it’s better to get to know a few good books well than to read many books in a shallow manner. I’ll take his advice.
If you are not a natural reader, push yourself just a bit. Read the Bible one chapter or paragraph at a time. Read for fifteen minutes. Write one or two sentences to summarize what you read. Over time, the amount of text you cover and time you spend reading may increase. But maybe not. The important thing is to read.
Find one good spiritual classic and plan to read it over several months or even a year. Don’t spend your time on books that aren’t going to feed your soul and lead you to Christ. Start small and go slow. Below are a few suggestions.
Finally, don’t avoid small groups or spiritual conversations just because reading is not your strength or passion. You know the Lord. You are in Christ. You’ve read a little. So, enter into both to grow and help others grow.
What got this topic on my radar this week? Sunday, we will read Acts 17:10-15and hear about the Berean Christians who examined the Scriptures with noble minds. Someone in Berea was reading.
I look forward to seeing you Sunday.
-Scott
*I suggest starting with Christian classics like Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan or Knowing God by J.I. Packer. I’m also currently benefiting from the Puritan Treasures for Today series at heritagebooks.org.