When someone stands up and says, "I'm new to faith and I don't know where to start," what is the first piece of advice they usually get? You know exactly what it is. People immediately start shoving recommendations at them: Find a church. Start reading the Bible. They map out rigid reading plans and list off specific churches to visit. While those people usually mean well, it

completely misses the mark.


Let’s just call a spade a spade here: How can anyone expect someone who is brand new to faith to understand a complex book or know what is being taught in a church before they even know who God is? If you try to force yourself into those spaces right out of the gate, you will end up feeling exactly like a kindergartner sitting in a high-level college course. You don’t understand jack, you feel completely overwhelmed, and you start to think you are doing everything entirely wrong.


But you aren't doing anything wrong. The starting point shouldn't be religious performance, memorizing verses, or trying to do everything “right.” The goal is building a relationship with God first, not religion first.


Why Is the Bible So Hard to Understand for New Believers?

Think about how you connect with people in your everyday life. Before you got into a serious relationship, did you start off knowing absolutely everything about that person? Did you automatically trust them with your life or love them with an intense passion? Of course not. Let's be real.


  • You Had to Spend Time Together: You had to sit down and talk without a rigid script.
  • You Had to Learn Their Character: You watched how they reacted, how they handled things, and what they cared about.
  • Trust and Love Grew Over Time: As the relationship naturally developed, trust solidified, and you eventually fell in love.


So why in the world do we expect God to be any different? How can the starting point possibly be a massive textbook or a formal church service? It is too advanced for the beginning. You do not send a five-year-old child straight to a university campus expecting them to immediately

graduate. You send them to kindergarten first, and they learn and grow step by step.


What Changes When You Build a Relationship With God First?

This doesn't mean you should never step foot inside a church or pick up the Bible. It simply means those actions are not the first step. They belong further down the road, and they only work when they are built from a real, existing foundation. Once you are actually aware of who God is and you understand His character through direct interaction, everything starts to feel different:


  • The Bible Stops Feeling Like a Chore: When you read it, you aren't trying to pass a test or check off a religious box. You are reading about Someone you already talk to on a daily basis.
  • Church Stops Feeling Like Pressure: You aren't going to impress people or perform for a middleman. You are simply including God in your activities at your own pace.
  • Obligation Turns to Inclusion: You stop doing things for God out of fear, and you start doing things with God out of real connection.


If you don't slow down and learn how to simply spend time with Him first, everything else will just feel like a heavy, exhausting burden. Relationships cannot be engineered overnight; they have to grow naturally in their own time.


Simple Ways to Start Building a Relationship With God

God is entirely patient with your timeline. He is not expecting you to have everything

completely figured out the exact moment you turn to Him or decide you want to know more. He isn’t counting your mistakes, and He isn’t forcing you into a rigid box.


If you want to start building a real foundation without the heavy weight of religious checklists, give yourself permission to lower the stakes and start small:


  • Drop the Prerequisites: You do not need to memorize a single verse or be a regular churchgoer to start talking directly to God.
  • Have Honest Conversations: Talk to God exactly as you are. Share your real doubts, your daily frustrations, and your curiosity in plain, regular language.
  • Bring Him Into Your Normal Routine: while you’re driving, doing laundry, making daily choices, or doing something fun. God loves to have fun with you!


By focusing on a personal, direct connection first, everything else will eventually start to make sense on its own. Protect your peace, reject the pressure of performance, and take the next step only when you are completely ready for it.




Listen to the podcast for this episode: Why Church and Bible Reading Aren’t the First Step to Knowing God


Baby Steps with Christ: Free Resources

You don't have to navigate the confusion all by yourself.


  • Join the Community:  Come join my 100% free community. It’s a pressure-free space where you can learn how to build a personal relationship with God, one baby step at a time.
  • Listen & Follow:  Catch every episode of the Baby Steps with Christ Podcast on your favorite audio platform to keep things real on your journey.
  • Deepen Your Growth: Grab my award-winning book, Dear New Believer, Love God, on Amazon or get the PDF version  and its companion Study Guide  on my website.


Visit BabyStepsWithChrist.com  to access all my free, no-obligation resources.


Keep taking those small, intentional baby steps with Christ!

Is It Bad If I Don't Love God Yet?

August 4, 2026
Is It Bad If I Don't Love God Yet?

Why Baby Steps with Christ Exists

January 27, 2026
For a long time, I believed that knowing God meant checking the right boxes — church attendance, Bible reading, tithing, saying the right words, believing the right things. I assumed that if I wasn’t doing those things, I was doing Christianity wrong. But the truth is, God never asked those things of me. He wasn’t looking for performance. He was asking for relationship. Baby Steps with Christ was created for people who want to know God personally — without pressure, guilt, or religious prerequisites. This space is about knowing God, not learning religion. This isn’t about telling you not to attend church, read the Bible, or tithe. It’s about removing the belief that those things are required in order to know God. God is not impressed by your church attendance. He isn’t angry if you don’t go. He isn’t judging you by how often you read the Bible. He isn’t disappointed if you don’t know it at all. And He isn’t frowning upon you if you aren’t tithing. He cares about you. And He wants a relationship with you. This space is for people who want to: Know God personally, not just conceptually Learn to recognize God’s voice Let go of religious performance Build a relationship with God that’s honest and real Why I Created Baby Steps with Christ My journey with God was filled with confusion, missteps, doubt, and learning the hard way — often about things church and religion never taught me. This space is what I wish I had when I was learning how to walk with God for myself. No pressure. No judgment. No religious checklist. Just honest baby steps toward a real relationship. If you’re curious about God, that’s enough to begin. If you want to hear more about my journey — or you’re ready to start taking your own baby steps—you can listen to my podcast Baby Steps with Christ wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also find my award-winning book, Dear New Believer, Love God , on Amazon. For more resources on building a relationship with God at your own pace — without a middleman and without pressure — visit babystepswithchrist.com .