Another reason I love the KJV is that it increases learning. Yes, you read that right — if you read the KJV with a humble heart, you’ll become wiser and learn more than you ever thought possible. And it just might come in the most surprising and unexpected ways!

But first, a confession

I’ll share more about that in a minute, but first, I have a confession.

I spent the first 18 years of my life as a Christian reading several different versions of the Bible. And — get this — I regularly perused multiple versions before deciding on which verse to memorize in which version!

Most of the time, it was a matter of which one sounded best to me.

Or even worse — which one best agreed with whatever point I was trying to prove! Crazy, right?

Reading the KJV increases learning

So despite all of the reading and all of the memorizing I had done, when I started reading the KJV for the first time, it truly felt like I had never read the Bible before!

God revealed so many truths that were hidden before, and opened treasure-stores of knowledge that I didn’t even know existed.

In fact, I would have to say I’ve learned more in the last five years reading the King James Bible than I did in the previous 18 reading other versions!

I don’t say that to boast of any accomplishment on my part. I say this only to give glory to God. He is faithful to his word. And he honors those who honor his Word.

Honestly, I’m not quite sure why any of this surprises me! God himself tells us in his Word this will happen:

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels: To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.”

—Proverbs 1:5 

“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”

—Proverbs 9:9

Starting over with the KJV actually increases learning

The other thing I have to admit: I had been memorizing verses for 18 years of my life from other versions.

So to set those versions aside and choose to read the King James Version of the Bible was truly like starting over.

It meant admitting every day that I knew absolutely nothing. 

Every time a verse came to mind that I wanted to remember for myself or share with others, I had to run to my King James Bible and look it up.

I’ve had to give up my pride, and all of what I thought I knew. I had to rely completely on God every time I opened his Word!

But when I began relying completely on God even for understanding, I discovered something else:

The more I read the KJV, the more that is opened to me. And the more that is opened the me, the more I want to read!

God has been more than faithful to his promise! 

“And he said to them, take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given and to him that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.”

—Mark 4:24-25

Words in the KJV increase learning

I’ve also found the words that are new to me are often ones that give more meaning. By new to me, I mean words I didn’t see in other Bibles, or that we don’t use often in day-to-day speech.

If I find a word that I’ve not heard before, I spend time learning what the word means. Occasionally that means looking it up in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. But most often it’s by comparing scripture with scripture, seeing how God defines and uses it elsewhere in his Word (the KJV’s own built-in dictionary!).

“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

—1 Corinthians 2:13

And that time is not wasted. Those are often the times God graciously gives more understanding than I ever thought possible.

What I thought was something to avoid — words that seemed hard —have actually become the very things God uses to increase learning!

Those words also bring increased understanding of who God is and what he desires for us to know. (I’ll elaborate more on some of those words in other articles. I know you’ll be as amazed as I was!)

Relying on God daily increases learning

Switching to the KJV has definitely meant relying on God and coming to him for his words daily. 

And while I used to think I was pretty consistent in my Bible time, reading the King James Bible has given me a new, greater desire for God’s Word, a hunger to read it first thing in the morning to the exclusion of all else, every day. And even to read or hear it multiple times throughout the day.

It never disappoints! No matter when I pick it up, or what book of the Old or New Testaments I’m reading, I can trust that God will reveal more wonders to me every time I open his Word.

When I ask in faith, coming to him daily in prayer, he is faithful and provides exceeding abundantly above all I can ask or think!

Humility leads to learning

Oh, and there’s one other thing I learned by admitting I knew nothing. It’s that I was the only one who cared what I thought I knew!!

The truth is, I didn’t need to worry what anyone thought of me. I didn’t need to be afraid that people in my church would think I was foolish for reading an “outdated” version of the Bible. I didn’t need to care what they thought if I was constantly looking up verses in front of them because I knew God would give me more understanding in the King James Version.

God was more concerned with my heart — that it was humble and willing to learn — than whether the people around me viewed me as a fool.

And God himself didn’t hold it against me that I was starting over! Instead, he delighted in showing me the truth straight out of his preserved word when I sought it in humility. 

“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.”

—1 Corinthians 3:18

“But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they know it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

—1 Corinthians 2:7-10

Delighting in God’s commandments

And I am delighting in it in a way I never did before!

“I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.”

—Psalm 119:47

“Let they tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.”

—Psalm 119:77

“For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”

—Romans 7:22

The fear of the Lord is wisdom

The KJV is teaching me what it means to truly fear God, to stand in awe of him, and to rely on him in everything — even understanding his word.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”

—Proverbs 9:10

“And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

—Job 28:28

Because Jesus IS the Word made flesh, and I have been spending time with him in the written Word, I have learned more about my beautiful, perfect, and holy Saviour in the King James Version than I did in all of my previous reading in other versions.

Be encouraged — daily!

So I encourage you — the treasures in the King James Bible are there for everyone who opens their heart to hear them. Don’t let anyone look down on you as too young to understand, too uneducated to learn, or as a fool for believing what God himself said about his word (Psalm 12:6-7 in the KJV). Just ask God to show you the truth straight from his Word. You won’t be disappointed.

The KJV truly increases learning for those who daily seek its wisdom.

“Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.”

—Proverbs 8:34

“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning…”

—Proverbs 1:5

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