A verse a day sounds great, but is it really effective as a tool for growing as a Christian? The short answer is no, but let’s explore why and what to do instead.

Life is busy, I know that as well as anyone. I’ve had littles at home for the last few years, I work from home and try to maintain all the household tasks. Finding time to read the Bible can feel impossible some days and for a while sometimes all I could manage was one verse at a time.

And while it’s good to open your Bible, even for a short moment, if all you are doing is one verse, or reading the “verse a day” from the Bible app on your phone, you really aren’t going to grow in faith.

Before you look for my email address to send me an upset email, keep reading as to why this isn’t a good approach and what you can do instead.

The Problem with “A Verse a Day” Mentality

I want to be abundantly clear, there is nothing wrong with reading a singular verse, or having scripture cards with verses on them around your home.

The problem with the “verse a day” mentality is that so many Christians fall into the assumption that once they’ve read their verse they are done for the day. And while we want quality over quantity, we don’t get quality when we only read one scripture a day.

Instead, if we are quoting, memorizing or using one particular verse, it should be used in the context of the wider passage or what it is meant for. We can’t read one singular verse and say “I’ve done my God time for today, I understand the Bible and I’m ready to live a Christian life.”

The Bible Wasn’t Written as a Dictionary

God’s word is not written like a dictionary where we can go and look up one scripture and use it. It’s written as a story, a narrative where scriptures weave into one another and are related to each other.

When we take one singular scripture out and use it, we lose the context of that verse. We lose the meaning of the passage, the time it was written in and what the writer was saying.

So can you look up individual verses and quote them? Absolutely…but not without understanding the surrounding verses or scriptures related to them. Then you can use the verse appropriately, for the right time and situation.

If you use the Bible like a dictionary, only looking for verses related to one specific problem, you likely will end up feeling confused and disconnected from God because you’ve missed out on the whole story. It’s like reading one line from a novel. If you don’t understand the novel, you don’t get the full meaning of that one line and its implications.

Can I Still Look Up Individual Verses?

The short answer; yes.

I do this, I have blog posts on it (like scripture verses for moms or scriptures for summer), but I write these with the idea that you will take these verses and go deeper. Read the passage surrounding it, meditate on it, pray the verse and find correlating verses around it.

This is how you learn the Bible, where you see patterns and connections, when you dig into the scripture or passage you are reading. The Bible is filled with themes and when we start to connect the dots, we start to see the story as a whole.

What Can I Do Instead of “A Verse a Day”

Here are a few alternatives to having a “verse of the day.”

Try working through verses all on the same theme. Write them down, draw connections and dig deeper into what the Bible is saying.

Read the surrounding passage of the verse, understand the full meaning of what is being conveyed, not just the singular verse.

Map out the verse.

Read the Bible front to back (not all at once). Instead of a random verse a day, read the verses (maybe more than one) in order.

Pray the verse or verses in the passage in a prayer journal.

Memorize the verse or write it out on a scripture card so you can spend days learning it and letting God speak to you over time.

Unpack verses with your kids, discussing their meaning and what God is saying through the verse.

You Will Need Individual Verses but in the Context of the Bible

Knowing the Bible means memorizing important verses or passages. We encourage this as Christians because when we tuck God’s word in our hearts, we carry it with us forever.

But we shouldn’t stop there. We should know surrounding verses, correlating verses, the context of the verse and implications.

The Bible was inspired by God, it is useful for teaching and correction (2 Timothy 3:16) but only if we know what it is trying to tell us. When scripture is pulled out in a “verse a day” style, the deeper meaning might be missed and thusly misleading.

When we meditate on verses, look for their context and understanding, we see God’s story as a whole. Not just for our lives but for the lives of those He loves. We can’t miss those important pieces in the story.

God’s word is written as a love story for us, not intended to be cut and paste to feel good for the moment we are in. Sometimes when we read it, the words feel hard but faith doesn’t happen in easy moments. It comes with struggle, with dedication and with trust!

If you want to dig deeper into scripture and apply it to prayer, check out my 30-day guide “Pray Over Your Home,” which unpacks scriptures and gives you prayers to cover your home with. Get it HERE.