The NLT Spiritual Growth Bible
The NLT Spiritual Growth Bible is the ideal Bible for anyone wanting to deepen their walk of faith. As Paul says in Hebrews 5:12, believers must not always be “like babies who need milk,” spiritually speaking. They must grow to eating “solid food,” or tasting biblical truth even when it is challenging. Truth is not meant to be viewed from a distance. It is meant to be absorbed, wrestled with, and lived out.
An Understandable Translation
The New Living Translation aligns perfectly with these goals. When it was first published in 1996, the translation received widespread praise. It was both accurate in meaning yet able to be immediately understood by modern-day readers. An eight-year process of revision, with minor changes over the next few years, fine-tuned its details. Its unique blend of accuracy and clarity makes it the perfect option for the believer desiring spiritual growth.
Reputable Translators
The NLT Bible Translation Team is made up of uniquely qualified and Christ-centered individuals. These translators have led careers at colleges, universities, and seminaries across the USA and abroad. Their Scriptural study and their passion for communicating it to others is nowhere more clearly shown than in the New Living Translation.
Look Inside
The NLT Spiritual Growth Bible’s single-column text format allows for maximal legibility. Its features include two ribbon bookmarks to save and compare passages, a dedication page for gift-giving, a chart of book abbreviation, a note from the publisher, a comprehensive look at the process behind translating the NLT, an acknowledgement of the Translation Team, an introduction before each book, a topical index, and an index of content articles and their authors (explained in-depth below). Each of these elements share the publishers’ and translators’ desire to equip readers with everything they need to mature in their faith.
Learn from Seasoned Christians
These features are only the beginning of the numerous tools featured throughout the Bible for those eager to gain a deeper understanding of Scripture. Throughout its text are more than 800 articles—80 of these being a full page in length—offering thought-provoking insights on a specific chapter or verse. These articles are written by well-known preachers and teachers coming from various backgrounds and denominations. They have lived out their callings as “pastors, theologians, authors, evangelists, counselors, missionaries, and others in Christian service.” Readers can learn from the wisdom shared in their articles knowing it has been written from years of humble experience serving and learning about God.
A Study Deep-Dive
Each article features multiple Scripture references. This serves to ground the authors’ words in the authority of God’s Word. The articles also include “topical ties” (indexed at the back of the Bible) that connect themes related to spiritual growth. For instance, the article on Isaiah 55 entitled “God’s Word is Always Fruitful” contains a topical tie to an article on Psalm 119 called “How to Read and Understand the Bible Properly.” Some articles also include cross references to other passages of Scripture. These topical ties and cross references allow readers to deepen their study of Scripture. They help readers see how all of the Bible’s parts intertwine with one another to create a magnificent tapestry.
Context for Reading
Yet even these articles are not all the Spiritual Growth Bible has to offer. Each book starts with an introduction diving into its historical background and context. These one- or two-page summaries provide a birds’-eye view of the books’ content and themes. They help readers see exactly how each book fits into the story of the Bible.
Character Studies
Additionally, more than 40 character profiles offer descriptions of biblical characters, explaining personalities, strengths, and shortcomings. For example, 1 Kings 3 contains a character profile on Solomon. It describes him as a man of great wisdom yet unquestionable folly. Readers will see themselves reflected in the various characters and their weaknesses and encouraged by how God used each person’s strengths to accomplish his purposes.
A Great Gift
Believers of all levels of spiritual age and maturity will find the Spiritual Growth Bible valuable and transformative in their walk with Christ. Every reader can learn with its numerous features. Most of all, they can be changed by the easy-to-understand yet powerful text itself. Students pursuing education in the Bible will find the Spiritual Growth Bible’s many tools especially helpful. Those working in church ministry will find encouragement from the authors of the articles who have paved the way in faithful service. Ministers, teachers, and church leaders will find its tools useful in preparing sermons, talks, and lessons. Men and women alike—whether young or old, new to the faith or decades into their Christian journey—can learn from the articles, themes, cross references, and character profiles pulled from each passage.
This Bible would make a perfect gift for a high school or college student desiring to know God more, husbands, wives, and parents humbly seeking to love God better, employees wanting to share his goodness in the workplace, and empty nesters and retirees ever aware of their increasing need to grow in Christ.
Additional Devotional Study Bibles
At the same time, the Spiritual Growth Bible is not the only one in our NLT collection. Our Everyday Devotional Bible for Women and the Everyday Devotional Bible for Men are practical applications of the NLT. Comparing the two may be helpful in deciding which Bible is right for you or a loved one. Both Bibles contain two-tone text to easily distinguish titles, headings, and added features from the words of Scripture itself. They also both have the note to readers, an introduction to the NLT, and list of its Translation Team. The Everyday Devotional Bible contains its own unique elements as well, separate from the Spiritual Growth Bible. It is split into daily portions for regulated reading. Each reading contains devotionals from author and mother Nancy Taylor. Men and women can find encouragement and wisdom in Taylor’s words.
If your gift of a Bible is geared specifically towards a woman desiring daily growth amidst the busyness of life, perhaps the Everyday Devotional Bible for Women is the one for her. If you have a man or woman in mind seeking deepened maturity and insight from many different ministry backgrounds and perspectives, the Spiritual Growth Bible could be your perfect choice.
Customer Reviews
But don’t just hear it from us—reviews for the Spiritual Growth Bible are a confident testament to the ways God has used it for good. Reviewers have called it “easy to read and understand,” “great for a variety of ages and reading levels,” written in “very modern language and... aesthetically pleasing” with the study notes helping “tremendously.”
One commenter explained that she had been looking for a Bible that would “explain more in-depth, and help [her] to process the different things that [she] read.” “I cannot wait to further understand the chapters that I’ve already read and to grow spiritually and further my walk with Jesus!” she wrote. “I recommend this to anyone who’s read the Bible, or any first time readers! Because we can become stagnant in our spirituality... We need to continue growing and this is an amazing way to continue to grow. It helps to open your eyes and your mind to different things, I’m so glad I have this now.”
Another shared, “This is the best Bible I have owned. Not only is it beautiful but it makes it so much easier to understand the Word because it gives you short summaries of certain chapters and cross references on different books and chapters in the Bible that share the same topic. I love this so much. I have been reading it and highlighting it since I got it, dedicating hours daily because I am so blown away by all the features and how easy it has been to understand the Word better.”
We are so blessed to be a part of each of these individuals’ spiritual growth journeys. We hope to join with you and yours as you continue strengthening your relationship with God!
The Spiritual Growth Bible is currently available in fifteen different faux-leather cover designs and color palettes, all with easy-to-read 9-point font. Shop here to see the entire collection.