The last month or so, I’ve been “requiring” Bible reading. I know some of my friends will smile at me (they think I’m strange for debating this topic in my mind as long as I have), but I’m torn. I’m mostly wanting to balance the need for them to know what part of their spiritual life is actually theirs, and my realization that they don’t have sufficient self-discipline to do the things they know they should be doing without help.
So, I’ve been attempting to help them articulate their own personal need for spiritual disciplines, and also their need for accountability/ encouragement of outside sources to learn them. I’ve been doing this by asking them to tell me what their plan is for their Bible reading. I gave them some ideas, but let them choose (I suggested reading through Psalms or Proverbs, reading one of the Gospels, reading the history chapters of the OT, or reading the NT epistles). The idea is to give them autonomy as much as possible.
After I asked the kids what their Bible reading plan was awhile ago, I’ve been asking them to follow through each morning before school. I asked the older two to to keep a record of something each day (a reference and phrase from a passage or verse that they like or want to remember). Except for asking every few days what they wrote down, I’ve deliberately kept my input minimal.
My intention is to require Bible reading for another month or so, then back off for a bit.
I’m asking myself: Is there a Bible precedent for requiring personal Bible reading or something like it? What do you think?
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