10 Things To Cut Out So You Will Have Time For Bible Study

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Do you desire to have more time for Bible study?

Does God’s Word captivate you yet your daily routine doesn’t allow for Bible study?

Perhaps you want to study Scriptures but your schedule doesn’t make that possible leaving you guilty or frustrated?

As a homeschool mom of four kiddos under seven, time seems to get gobbled up. I understand the desire to study Scriptures mixed with the utter frustration that there doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day!

According to Barna research in 2021, about 181 million Americans read their Bible at least some during the year but rarely more than once a week. As someone who has struggled to stay consistent in Bible study, I resonated with that stat.

Two years ago, I began assessing all the time “eaters” in my day. Honestly, I found that my kids, homeschooling and housework were not the biggest time suckers in my day.

Take a few days and intentionally watch where your time is spent.

You might find different time wasters than I discovered in my life. When we step back to observe where our time goes, it can help us to reevaluate our priorities. Is our time being spent on activities that align with our priorities?

Spending time with the Lord daily, especially through diligent study of His Word, is vitally important. This should be our number one priority-no matter the season of life.

Trust me when I say I know that will look different in certain seasons with kids. But especially in those hardest seasons of life, we need to get creative to find ways to spend time in Bible study even more!

Let’s discover and remove those time wasters that are keeping us from the wonderful priority of time with God in His Word.

 

 

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Everyday Areas Of Life That Keep Us From Time In God’s Word

Every person is a little different. We each have our own weaknesses as far as time wasters. For me, shopping is not something I enjoy as much. That time waster doesn’t account for nearly as much time as texting or scrolling personally.

We have to be honest to ourselves about our own areas of weakness. Pray that God will help you recognize any areas of wasted time in your day that can be redeemed and used intentionally for His glory.

Time Waster #1: Social Media

Seriously, we all had to know social media/scolling would be the first time waster. It is obvious that technology is at our fingertips day and night. Be intentional to reclaim some of your time from social media. Place boundaries as needed when it comes to scrolling.

Pray and ask God for the self-control necessary to overcome your addiction to scrolling. (Yes, I call it an addiction. When we can no longer survive without scrolling, it is an addiction.)

Honestly, this is the first step and as you deal with this area, you will be amazed at how much time is opened up in your schedule. This particular area has allowed me much more mental energy and time for Bible study.

Set aside times in your day, especially early mornings, to avoid social media. Pray for self-control to help you wisely use that set-aside period as a time for Bible study.

 

Time Waster #2: Texting

Texting is amazing. Please never call me on the phone unless it is a true emergency.

My introverted heart loves texting. I can answer on my timing. It gives me a chance to think through my replies. Texting is wonderful. Also, my husband and I can carry on entire conversations through gifs. Totally fun. 🙂

Unfortunately texting is a mixed blessing. It is a good gift that can steal time easily if allowed.

Text message threads filled with family drama. Quick question text messages that lead to gossip. Hard text messages that wrench your heart and take up all your emotional energy.

All of those text messages steals time and energy.

To guard against this, my husband helped me change the sound of his text messages and my mom’s to a special sound. If that sound dings, I check my messages. If not, then I let it sit until free time allows. Super simple change but total game changer as far as time wasted with text messages. It allows me to answer the two people who might send me noteworthy messages while ignoring the rest of the messages until a better time.

Once the priorities of my day have been taken care of-including spending time in Bible study-then I can address the less urgent text messages that are waiting for me.

Find what works for you so that text messages are not taking an excessive amount of time out of your day.

 

Time Waster #3: Checking Email

Right after I finish dealing with one text message, I open my email. What starts as a quick check on a shipping confirmation leads to 15 -20 minutes of opening and scrolling deals, deleting junk, and browsing random emails.

Lately, I set aside a few times a week where I deal with emails. Personally, this helps reduce the temptation to check my email first thing in the morning. This change helps me keep my mind focused on the Scriptures in front of me while I study in the morning.

Prayerfully set aside times from checking your email so you can spend more time in God’s Word.

 

Time Waster #4: Television/Screen Time/Podcasts

In case you have not noticed, this is the fourth item on our time waster list and we are still discussing screens. I am thankful we live in a technological age. However, it is evident that as Christians we must exhibit extraordinary amounts of self-control when it comes to using technology.

Growing up, my family had three TV channels. Typically, we would only sit down to watch television on Sunday afternoons. The rest of the week the TV sat there unused. We might watch an occassional movie on a cold day in winter but that was about it. Just as I moved out on my own for college, YouTube was becoming all the rage. I found myself spending hours pouring over short videos. And then when I married a TV/movie buff, he introduced me to fun shows I had never seen. All the sudden, I found myself spending hours of my day binge-watching Netflix.

We have since then curbed our watching habits greatly but as always, we must guard ourselves against wasting too much time on television/other screens.

The same can be said for any screen time such as video games or in app games.

Remember, our goal is not to legalistically take away everything.

Our desire as Christians should be whole-hearted, joyful submission to the Lord. In certain seasons, that means we shut off all screens. In other seasons, it means we watch screens but guard against content that pulls us away from Christ.

If our screens are distracting us mentally or consuming the only time we have to study Scriptures, then screen time need to be sacrificed.

 

 

Time Waster #5: Sleeping In

Okay, I hesitate this one only because I had four kids in five years. There was a time when I would “sleep in” only because that was the only sleep I had all night. If that is you right now, disregard this and go get some sleep!

Now that we are past the baby stage, I have to continually work to not allow my desire for late-night mom alone time to get so late that I can’t rise in the morning to read my Bible.

Again, these are all works in process. Life happens but work towards a trajectory of rising earlier and starting your day in God’s Word.

Consider heading to bed 30 minutes sooner than normal so you can rise 30 minutes earlier. Give your best hour of the day to the Lord. It really is amazing!

This is definitely one my favorite habits when seasons of life allow.

 

Time Waster #6: Sports/Extra-curricular Activities

Sports (and other extra-curricular activities like theater, dance, karate, knowledge bowl, etc.) are an area that take over our lives.

When we were first married, my husband coached middle school sports. Our foreign exchange students participated in sports. During those two years, I realized how time sucking sports/extra-curricular activities were.

Sport practices, games, play practices, field trips, and club meetings stole every minute of family time outside of school. Additionally, it zapped our energy and desire to do anything else-like spend time in God’s Word (or prayer or  conversations about what we learned at church.)

When Nick left teaching and coaching behind, we made an active choice to not sign our own children up for any extra-curriculars or sports.

Instead, we pick one or two special things that we do each month as a family. It is a huge reliever of our family’s schedule and allows us much time to read and study God’s Word together.

We have never once regretted our decision to not place our kids in sports, dance, theater, karate, or the laundry list of other choices that are available.

Prayerfully decide if it is time for your family to drastically cut back on extra-curricular activities.

I will mention this includes watching sports. As much as we love watching sports, we have cut that back to only watching highlights of big games. Consider skipping the rest of the sports viewing world. Enjoy the highlights and move on! Otherwise, it could take over your time and schedule too.

 

Time Waster #7: Church Activities

Hot take…we need to cut down on activities done at church. How could doing less with church result in more time to study the God’s Word you ask?

Well, let me clarify.

This does not mean that we stop attending a sound Bible-preaching  church.

Often I see churches fill their calendars with good things. Things like game nights, potlucks, and “fluffy” Bible studies. (The kind where that Bible is not studied-rather a gossip, book-club atmosphere reigns.) Often good activities are will separate families into age groups as well which steals time from families being together. But that is another post for another day! 🙂

Evaluate what church activities your family is saying yes to and determine if they are drawing you closer to God and the study of His Word. If the answer is yes and you are legitimately studying the Word, then that is great! Don’t stop.

However, if you are seeing no fruits other than a good social time, I suggest it is time to cut those church activities from your calendar. Don’t waste time on fruitless endeavors that put on the mask of “good” simply because they happen in a church building.

 

 

Time Waster #8: Leisure Reading

Ever found yourself frustrated when reading hard passages of Scripture? I have. There are confusing sections to wade through when we study our Bible.

At times, it is easier to pick up your latest favorite book. Honestly, there are times when one chapter of the Bible can take longer to study than several chapters of my current leisure reading book.

Which is why I had to start putting a limit on my leisure reading books. For starters, I make sure that the Bible is studied before I pick up an easier read. Next, I read my Bible when I am fresh and starting my day. Leisure reading is saved for nap times and bedtimes when I am not as able to focus.

Finally, consider if what your reading is honoring to Christ. Are your leisure reading books pointing you to Christ and making you want to strive to live holy and honorable lives? Or are they merely cheap story lines that fill your mind with unrealistic expectations about what life could be?

After you read your Bible, consider adding some of these Christian books to your reading list!

 

 

Time Waster #9: Errands/Shopping

If you like to eat, that means you have to grocery shop. Do you wear clothes? Chances are at some point you shopped for those clothes. If your driver’s liscense has ever expired, you most likely have had to make an afternoon errand to the DMV.

Part of our life includes errands and shopping trips. That can’t be avoided.

However, in our culture, it is not uncommon for errands to include a stop for coffee and an expensive wandering trip through Target. For some, this might mean a daily trip to the grocery store due to failing to plan ahead for supper each night. These shopping times add up quickly.

Set aside one day a week for errands and necessary shopping trips. Cut out all unnecessary travel or shopping by planning ahead for your meals and your doctor appointments, etc. Rather than wasting time in traffic and on travel time, plan ahead to limit errands and shopping to the bare essentials.

Your schedule (and your wallet) will both benefit!

Personally, I found shopping trips to be therapeutic in nature. If felt good to spend money, even if it was on household essentials and groceries. But we have to ask ourselves, do I need this purchase or do I need more of Christ? Am I trying to fill a God-sized hole with enjoyable clutter?

For me, this area of extended errands/shopping was most tempting when I had a baby at home. I was touched out and wanted alone time. That part was understandable.

I found that the need for a break from the baby wasn’t bad. My spending and “self-care” through errand trips was not healthy for me or our bank account. It led to selfish tendencies and a growing need to “get away” the more I fed that desire.

Prayerfully ask God to point out ways to honor Him and draw close to Him even when you are doing the necessary errands. Pray for His wisdom as you make purchases. Draw close to Him and seek His face first before seeking out new purchases.

 

Time Waster #10: Working Out

Exercise is important. We all know that. The fact that we are way too sedentary is obvious in our obesity rates in America. I understand the desire to work out, especially to escape to the gym or fitness class. Like everything on this list, there is nothing inherently evil or wrong with working out.

However, it does become an issue when your first priority of the day is working out. Your best time and attention goes to your body rather than to the Word.

Remember to keep first things first. Priorities and habits matter. If you do enjoy working out, you know that consistency is key to staying in shape physically. Practice that same habit of consistency first with your Bible study.

Consider some of these ideas to ensure that your work out time does not cut into your time to study God’s Word. Set the boundary of exercising only after your Bible study time each day. Or skip going to work out at a gym. The time it takes to drive to a gym or exercise class can add up. Try in-home workouts that don’t require travel time.

Also, set a cap for your work out time so that you don’t spend too much time working out. This is not a problem for me.  But I have friends that enjoy working out so much that they lose track of time. If that is you, perhaps set a timer to not let exercise time crunch your schedule too much!

 

Your Turn

As you evaluate the ways you use your time, what areas do you notice the “good things” of life crowding out the “best” things? Where has your time gone? When could you intentionally carve out more time spent in God’s Word and in prayer?

Ask God for wise discernment to help you say NO to time wasters that keep you from time spent with Christ in His Word.

If you struggle with time management, consider bringing on an accountability partner to help you become a better steward of your time. Don’t hesitate to find a more mature Christian. Allow them to help you build healthy time management habits starting with time spent in God’s Word each day!

Thank you for stopping by!

 

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