For most of my life, Bible study was a big part of how I understood myself and the world. I filled in workbooks, underlined verses, and tried really hard to make it all fit together. The Bible was presented to me as absolutely, one hundred percent correct and literally true, and I treated it that way.

Lately, though, that’s been changing. I’ve been learning more about the culture the Bible was written in—who the writers were, what was happening around them, what their world looked like. The more I learn, the less I can pretend it dropped out of the sky as a perfect rulebook. I’m not taking it literally anymore, and once that shifted, the old style of “Bible study” started to feel empty and even a little dishonest.

It’s strange to say I’ve lost interest in something that used to be so central to my life. But I think what I’ve really lost interest in is forcing myself to read it the way other people told me I had to. I’m more interested now in questions, context, and how to live out love and equality than in proving every verse is right.

So yes, one of the main hobbies I’ve outgrown is traditional Bible study. It’s bittersweet, but it also feels like making room for a faith that’s more honest, more curious, and more my own.