Sometimes, when I’m reading the Bible, I have to pause and say “what the heck was that?” Because honestly, there are some downright strange things in the Bible. And unfortunately, on top of that, some of these confusing verses have been used for purposes other than what they were intended for. In fact, the Bible has been used a disgusting number of times throughout history to support or justify things that God would never, ever want. It’s really awful, considering that the Bible was meant to be a love letter for us from our Creator.

But despite all of that, I still love the Bible. I believe that the Bible was written by people under God’s guidance, and that it is completely perfect and true. During my explorations as a Christian, I have found many verses in this book that have encouraged, strengthened, enlightened, and empowered me. I wanted to share my top ten favorite Bible verses (as of right now), because some of these verses are just so amazing that they need to be shared! I know that all of my readers do not share my beliefs about God or the Bible, but I hope that you all can get something out of some of these verses. Enjoy!

I’ll be counting down from 10 to 1, starting with my tenth favorite and leading up to my all-time favorite verse. This week, I’ll be going through the first half. All of the verses are from the New Living Translation of the Bible, unless otherwise noted. Here we go!

10. Song of Songs 6:3 (first half)

“I am my lover’s, and my lover is mine.”

I love the book Song of Songs. It is the one book in the Bible that is completely focused on the love between a husband and wife. When I have tried to read this book in the past, I had a hard time getting much out of it. The language is very poetic and symbolic, and it can be easy to miss the true meanings when you don’t look carefully. But recently, I decided to reread this book in a different translation.  The Message translation is a paraphrase, basically a rewrite of the Bible in very modern and understandable language. When I read the Song of Songs in the Message version, I was totally blown away. This book is so very sensual, romantic, and full of intimate descriptions of what God intended for sexuality in marriage. It is truly beautiful, and it inspired me to aspire to greater heights of love and connection in my own marriage.

I have often found that in Christianity, the idea of passionate enjoyment of sexuality seems to be a bit taboo. The thought of a husband and wife being consumed by their love for each other is almost frowned upon. Of course, a husband and wife should love each other deeply and tenderly, and they should be completely committed to their marriage. But passion? Enjoying sexuality? Consuming love? No, no, no, that’s just over the top. A good, wholesome Christian marriage is tame and tidy, not wild and free. Because if we focus on our husband or wife too much, then we might be distracted from loving God as much as we should. Right?

According to the Song of Songs, certainly not! This book portrays the fiery and passionate love between a husband and wife as a beautiful act of worship. Enjoying sexuality in marriage is honoring to God. Being consumed by love for your spouse is like laughing in the devil’s face. It’s like saying “Look at this incredible thing that God created—look at our love! With our love, we can conquer all things.” Where there is love, the devil has lost and God has won.

My husband is mine, and I am his. That is something I can proudly say, because I have been so fantastically blessed by my God. That is something to be thankful for!

9. James 1:27

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”

This verse is so good because it really gets to the point of, well, everything. The whole Bible could almost be reduced just to this. Religion is not a list of rules from the Old Testament. Religion is the freedom given to us by Jesus and recorded the New Testament, which can be appreciated that much more when you read about how things used to be in the Old Testament. And from that freedom, comes our purpose; love. We are to love others, and to love God. We love others by caring for those in need, and in doing so, we also show our love for God. We should strive to keep our hearts focused on our purpose, and refuse to let the world trick us into thinking that life is about anything else but love.

8. Romans 8:28

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

This one goes hand in hand with James 1:27, the verse above. It talks about our purpose and loving God, but it also goes a step further. It tells us that we know that God causes everything to work together for our good. Of course, the catch is that “our” doesn’t mean everyone— it says that this applies to those who love God and are pursuing His purpose for them. In other words, if you don’t want anything to do with God then you can’t expect him to shower you with good things. This is really more a matter of respect than anything else. God will not force anybody to love him or follow him. He respects your choices. But no matter who you are or what you feel about him, he does still love you. He loves you more than you can know. And he desperately wants for you to love him back, so he can give you all of the amazing gifts that he has set aside for you!

For those of us that do love and follow God, this verse brings incredible comfort. It reminds us that we are always under God’s protection, that no matter what, everything will work out in the end. He loves us and he wants only good things for us. Since He’s God, we can count on Him to make everything work together for our good. That’s a promise, and God doesn’t break His promises.

7. Psalms 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”

This verse makes me so happy. Sometimes, I let myself become really full of worry and despair because I know that there are billions of people in the world who don’t know God. I know that a huge percentage of these people don’t want to know God, or think that they already do. I know that there are people out there who will never know Him, because they will never change their minds about God and He will respect that. And it honestly breaks my heart so badly that I have to just push it away and not let myself think or worry about it. Interestingly enough, that’s exactly what this verse is telling me to do.

“Be still, and know that I am God!” In other words, calm down, relax, and remember that He is in control, not me. He is God, and I am not. And I am incredibly grateful for that, because I could never handle the job.

The second part of the verse is possibly even better. It declares that in the end, God will be honored throughout the world. There will come a day when every person finally knows that He is the one true God! And when that happens, our world will finally once and for all be free of evil and suffering. Personally, I am looking forward to that day.

6. Matthew 7:1

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.”

This verse is purely awesome for a few reasons. First of all, these are Jesus’ words. My savior, my king, the one person who I love beyond anything else, He was the one who said these words. That means that I can take them very, very seriously! Second of all, this verse is straightforward and easy to understand. There’s no getting around it— Jesus commands His followers not to judge others. In fact, in another similar verse, John 3:17, we are reminded that Jesus did not come into the world to judge it, He came to save it! Now, if the only perfect person to ever live came into this world and refused to judge it, then how much more does that mean that imperfect people like me and you shouldn’t judge it? This verse gives me a very clear and simple reminder that I am not in the position to judge others. I am in the position to love others, to be an example of God’s love for them. I’ll let the only perfect judge do His job, and leave the condemning to the devil.

Thanks for reading about some of my favorite verses. I hope that they can encourage you or bring you new understanding about God. Please come back next week to check out my top 5! Until then, have a great week!