I meet a lot of women who love God but don’t love to read God’s Word. I was one of them for a very long period of time in my life.
I wanted to love it.
I lied about loving it.
I prayed for God to make me love it.
Passages like, “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1) would evoke emotions of both jealousy and shame. Why wasn’t I able to view the scripture in this way? Why wasn’t I desperate for God in this way?
Then something changed. Here are the three things I did to help open up the floodgates to falling in love with God’s Word.
1) Acts 2:42 became my theme verse.
“They (the early church) devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”
Up until this point, those four things were more of an afterthought than a driving force in my day. In order to change this, I started devoting myself wholeheartedly to the study of the Bible, writing down what I thought God was teaching me, and interpreting my daily circumstances though the lens of those concepts. I had weekly goals for memorizing scripture, applying scripture to my life, and sitting and listening to God. I set timers throughout the day so I would remember to pray. I chased hard after God and desperately asked Him to make me fall in love with Him and His Word. Overall, I devoted myself to the things the early church devoted themselves to and the result was a deeper love for the Lord.
2) I quit believing the lie that said I should wait until the kids got older to begin to devote myself to God’s Word.
I started this journey when I had 3 kids under 3 years old. Good quality sleep was a thing of the past, free time didn’t exist, my brain was foggy, exhaustion was at its peak, and my hormones were all over the place. Even with all those obstacles, God still met me once I devoted myself to Him. Don’t believe the lie that says another season of life will come along where it will be easier to develop a love for God. There will never be a perfect season in life, so just get started.
3) I stopped trying to be a good person and just chased after God.
When I read the Bible, memorized scripture, and prayed out of the desire to become a better person, it was burdensome. Once my perspective changed to one chasing after knowing and obeying God more, there was much joy. Open your Bible and seek to know God, not yourself. The Holy Spirit who lives inside those who have given their lives to Christ is the one who produces the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control, so take the pressure off yourself (Galatians 5:22). You are responsible for chasing after God, getting to know Him, worshiping Him, and humbling yourself before Him. The Holy Spirit will do the changing in you.
Falling in love with God’s Word takes devotion on your part, but I promise your perseverance to Him will pay off in the end. Learning to fall in love with God’s Word has been the most life-giving thing I have ever done.
