Research into Bible reading by the American Bible Society (ABS) has found that it impacts on generosity, compassion, and social attitudes.
According to the 2025 findings, Americans who recurrently read the Bible are significantly more prone to report that Scripture influences their behaviour toward others.
More than half of practising Christians — those that attend church a minimum of monthly and describe their faith as very necessary — say the Bible has led them to act more lovingly up to now month.
Among practising Christians, 55% “strongly agree” that reading Scripture helps them have more loving behaviour, compared with 37% of casual Christians and 33% of nominal Christians.
Even amongst non-Christians who’ve read the Bible recently, 39% say it inspired them to be more loving.
“God isn’t just ‘up there’—he’s with us and inside us and loving others through us,” said the report. “Our relationship with God is inextricably connected with how we act toward others.”
The report also finds a transparent connection between Scripture engagement and generosity.
Nearly half of practising Christians (49%) say reading the Bible has made them more generous with their time, energy, or money — roughly twice the speed of those that discover as casual or nominal Christians (each 24%).
Even amongst non-Christians who read Scripture, one in three (32%) agree that it has made them more generous.
Drawing on wider philanthropic data, ABS reports that overall US charitable giving reached almost $600 billion in 2024 — a 6.3% increase from the previous yr.
Yet while Americans remain generous, giving to non secular causes has declined barely after adjusting for inflation.
Within faith communities, nevertheless, Scripture engagement appears to make a tangible difference, as 86% of people that identified as “Scripture Engaged” said they provide to charity, compared with 75% of the “Movable Middle” and 51% of those “Bible Disengaged.”
Their giving amounts also differ dramatically: Scripture-engaged donors report median annual gifts of $2,000 — 4 times higher than the $500 median amongst Bible-disengaged donors.
Evangelical Protestants top the charts in each participation and giving, with 78% donating to charity and the best median annual gift being $1,500.
Historically Black Protestant churches follow closely, with high giving rates and the best share of donations directed to local congregations.
Meanwhile, mainline Protestants, donate a smaller portion of their charitable giving to their local churches — 40%.
Attendance patterns also play a job: 92% of those that predominantly attend church in person donate to charity, compared with 60% of those that participate mainly online.
Beyond money, ABS’s State of the Bible report measures attitudes toward key social issues akin to embracing immigrants, befriending people of other faiths or races, are inclined to the environment, and standing up for the oppressed.
While strong agreement with these statements has declined barely amongst the final population since 2022, people who find themselves more deeply engaged with Scripture remain probably the most supportive of such pro-social values.
Scripture-engaged Christians are especially prone to agree with statements about befriending people of other races or religions.
Interestingly, the one area where the “Bible Disengaged” outscore the highly engaged is in caring for the environment — 56 percent to 53 percent.
Women proceed to indicate stronger support for compassion-driven causes, with 10 to 18% higher agreement rates than men across all five measures.
Generationally, Gen Z shows the best concern for the environment, Millennials lead in championing justice for the oppressed, and Boomers are most committed to constructing friendships across racial and non secular lines.
Regionally, residents of the western United States express stronger support – 22% higher than other parts of the country – for welcoming immigrants.
Education also plays a job: individuals with college experience are 1.5 times more likely than those with only a highschool education to strongly support inclusive and justice-oriented values.
Quoting from 2 Corinthians 9:7, the report reminds readers that true generosity is about greater than financial output: “God loves a cheerful giver. It has at all times been a matter of the center.”
It concluded: “Jesus said, ‘Where your treasure is, there your heart can be also’ (Matthew 6:21 NIV). In fact, he taught about money rather a lot. Not that he was raising funds for some recent ministry project, but he understood the connection between passion and possessions. Riches can lure people into smash. Money makes a nasty master.
“But people who find themselves motivated by the love of Christ find freedom in giving money away for good purposes—helping people, doing God’s work on the earth. Financial donation is but one type of the generosity that floods the hearts of the faithful.
“Those who read the Bible most steadily are way more prone to agree strongly about its impact of their lives. As we recurrently interact with God in Scripture, we’re modified for the higher.”
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