Pros and Cons of Reading a Devotional
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A recent Amazon search for devotionals revealed 90,000 options. Devotionals cover a wide spectrum of audiences, and are in print for women, men, teens, young women, couples, seniors, and more. But what are the pros and cons of devotionals?
Given the sheer number of available devotionals, we have to wonder what purpose they serve. Do people read the Bible along with devotionals, or do they read devotionals only? Do devotionals help or hinder the time we are to spend reading, meditating upon, and studying the Bible?
What Is a Devotional?
A devotional is usually a short, digital or printed book that Christians use for daily meditations. Devotionals range from weekly to yearly and may be undated or correspond to the calendar. They usually reference a Bible verse or passage and then expound on it so the reader can better relate to the lesson and apply what they learn. Devotionals also usually include a printed prayer.
Devotionals are said to help a person grow spiritually and encourage their faith as they go through life’s daily joys and struggles.
Why Do People Read Devotionals?
The reasons vary as to why people read or buy devotionals:
- To supplement daily Bible reading
- As a substitute for Bible reading
- As a prayer guide
- To investigate and respond to certain topics
- To aid their understanding of the Bible
- To follow a particular teacher’s view on Scripture
- As part of Bible study curriculum homework
- To investigate how to write one for publication
- As a supplement to their daily worship
- To use while discipling a new believer
- As a gift to another
This list is not comprehensive, but it covers the main reasons people continue to use devotionals. Overall, devotionals can be a great aid to one’s meditation upon Scripture. But we should remember, devotionals are meant to be an enhancement to Scripture, not a replacement.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Devotionals?
Pros
Devotionals can be a great source of inspiration and comfort to you. They can aid your requests and expectancies of the Lord regarding a certain issue you’re facing, or drive you further into the Bible.
They can also increase your reliance on the Lord.
Devotionals can help in the midst of our busy lives. Life is messy, and there are certainly days where a person will find themselves running late. There are things you can’t control. Maybe a family emergency comes up or a drastic, sudden change happened and now your mornings are eaten up. Perhaps there’s a special event happening which is super-demanding. In these cases, a quick devotional can help feed the soul and get the mind centered on godly things before the chaos of life seeks to invade and distract a person from God. After all, some sustenance is much better than no sustenance at all.
Longer devotionals open up a broad spectrum of topics. These can familiarize us with some basics of Scripture and also delve into topics we haven’t yet considered.
Devotionals are very accessible in their simplicity and ease of understanding. If we’re honest, reading Scripture can at times be discouraging because many biblical passages can be difficult to understand. For a believer who earnestly desires to know God’s Word, it can certainly be frustrating when you don’t know what a passage means. Devotionals can help tremendously by pointing believers to the truths affirmed in Scripture in a manner that’s easy to understand.
This is a wonderful thing. However, given the elementary nature of many devotionals, hopefully a believer will eventually grow beyond the devotional and be better equipped to directly dig into God’s Word. A Christian who depends on short devotionals for the rest of their life is comparable to a grown-up who continues to eat baby food.
Cons
Reading the Bible is relational because it is God’s very Word to us. Losing sight of this and reading a devotional only and not the Bible will make Bible reading feel cold and impersonal when it really isn’t. The Bible is the only written Word through which God speaks. Scripture alone holds this honor.
Devotionals should be a supplement and not a replacement for regular time in the Bible. God speaks with the highest esteem for His Own Word (Psalm 119). To substitute the pure Scriptures with the inferior and lesser writings of men is to show contempt for God’s Word. Yes, we learn from teachers. But a teacher is only worthwhile when they open the Scriptures to us and draw us deeper into the Bible. Nothing they produce can ever replace the Bible.
The mindset behind devotionals can concern us. One of the reasons devotionals are so popular is they are quick, easy, and convenient. Many devotionals are based on practicality and the idea that people just don’t have time to read the Bible. They can cater to a lazy mentality of not doing the hard work of wrestling with the Scriptures.
In this way devotionals can actually foster contempt for Scripture. Why spend half an hour wrestling with Scripture when you can read a simple three-minute devotional of an easy-to-understand, predigested message? This can seem like a win-win. A person doesn’t have to sacrifice any time out of their chaotic schedule, and they can feel like they tipped their hat to God because they read something religious.
What Should We Look for in a Devotional?
Devotionals can pervert the Scriptures in such a way that readers pay more attention to the word of the human author than they do the divine author.
If a devotional:
- Doesn’t expand your view and worship of the Lord Jesus…
- Doesn’t drive you into the Bible…
- Adds or takes away from Scripture…
- Claims Jesus says something apart from His words as clearly written in the Bible…
- Doesn’t increase your need for the Lord…
Throw it out.
Devotionals which are written in the first person, as if God is speaking directly to the reader, are being presumptuous and are assigning to themselves a privilege and honor Scripture alone has. Regardless of whether the motives for such a style are good or not, this is a major concern and devotionals such as these should be avoided.
Christian devotionals should serve as a supplement to Bible reading, never a replacement. This does not mean people aren’t to be shown grace for days where they read only their devotional because they are pressed for time. Bible reading should not be approached or presented in a legalistic, burdensome manner. However, every Christian with personal access to God’s Word should make sure the Bible is the primary and dominant source to which they go.
7 Things to Ask Yourself before Starting a Devotional
We should read the Bible regularly. If we are reading a devotional more than the Bible, we need to ask ourselves:
- Am I giving the Lord the attention He deserves?
- Am I being lazy?
- How am I growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through this devotional?
- Does this devotional challenge me to be more like Jesus?
- What is this devotional giving me that the Bible doesn’t?
- Why am I avoiding reading the Bible?
- Am I satisfied with milk when the Lord calls me to the solid food of Scripture?
Devotionals (except for those listed above) can be wonderful tools to help us continue to grow in Christ. Quick, daily topics can help encourage us for the day ahead. Good ones are based directly on Scripture, but nothing can replace the power of the Bible. Have a look and be encouraged by these passages:
John 17:6, 14, 17
Our charge as Christians is to prioritize the Bible as our premier intake of the Word of God. Psalm 119:11 tells us, “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” When we treasure God’s Word in our hearts, it stays there as one of our guards against sin. We are commanded to share the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:16), and when we share the gospel with others, it comes straight from the Bible.
And so, enjoy good devotionals, but regard them for what they are, a human author’s attempt to steer you to our glorious and perfect divine Author — the Lord Jesus Christ.
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