Podcast: How Reading Galatians Changed My Life (Portia Collins)

August 11, 2025 by: Crossway

This article is part of the The Crossway Podcast series.

One Woman’s Story of Encountering the Gospel, Learning to Study the Bible, and Helping Other Women Do the Same

In this episode Portia Collins discusses the ways that reading about the Gospel in Galatians changed her life and challenged her to read the Bible at a new level. Portia also talks about her favorite Bible study tools and how these can contribute to a productive Bible study.

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS

Finding Freedom in Christ

Finding Freedom in Christ

Portia Collins

This accessible study by Bible teacher Portia Collins leads women in an 8-week exegetical journey through Galatians where they’ll uncover the liberating and transformative power of God’s grace.

Topics Addressed in This Interview:

01:00 - A Life-Changing Encounter with Scripture

Matt Tully
Portia Collins is a Bible teacher and the founder of She Shall Be Called, a non-profit women’s ministry focused on bible literacy. She’s also the author of a new eight-week Bible study with Crossway on the book of Galatians called Finding Freedom in Christ. Portia, thank you so much for joining me today on The Crossway Podcast.

Portia Collins
Thank you for having me, Matt. I’m super excited to be here.

Matt Tully
I’m excited to talk a little bit about this study that you’ve written with Crossway but also just hear more about your heart for learning how to study the Bible and Bible literacy. I just want to go back to your own personal story. You described your twenties as a period of your life characterized by religious rule-keeping on the one hand and indulgence in sin on the other hand. I wonder if you could just take us back to that time in your life. Where were you at spiritually? What was your background, and how would you think about that time of your life now?

Portia Collins
I was a church girl. And what I mean by that is I grew up in the church. My grandmother was the church pianist and my mother was the organist.

Matt Tully
So, you were probably there longer than most people.

Portia Collins
That’s exactly what I was going to say. We were there all the time. We were there on Wednesday nights. We were there for choir practice. We were there for everything. So, I grew up a church girl and familiar with the Bible and familiar with Jesus, but I didn’t really know who Jesus was. I didn’t really understand the life that he calls us to. And so when I got to college, I had this bad theology that Jesus had only done part of what needed to be done for me to be saved, and then it was up to me to do the rest. And so I lived in this weird dimension of on good days, when I felt like I had said all the right things and done all the right things, Oh, great! I’m going to heaven. And then on bad days, when I had cussed or fussed or anything else, Oh, I’m going to bust hell wide open. And so I lived in that weird space for most of my college years, trying to figure that out. And really what happened is God allowed me to come to the end of myself. I realized that there were no amount of good days that were going to take away the heaviness and the brokenness that I was feeling. In fact, I feel like my sin brought me to the end of myself, where, in my mind, there was no recovery. I knew there was nothing that I can do to clean this up. And that was God perfectly positioning me for the gospel. And so I remember this particular night I was sitting on my apartment floor. I was just desperate, and I was so broken by my sin, even to the point of not wanting to live. I was hopeless. Utterly in despair. Recently, I had started this decline, and so I was like, Just go back to what, what your grandmamma and your mama taught you. Pray and read your Bible. I didn’t have a clue what I was reading. I’m just trying to do those things that I remembered and that were instilled in me in some form.

Matt Tully
Do you think you had heard the gospel clearly at this point in your life?

Portia Collins
No. And so where I really think that I began to hear the gospel and understand it clearly was that night reading Galatians. And so I picked Galatians to read that night solely because it was six chapters.

Matt Tully
Really? I was going to ask you that. How did you land in that book of the Bible in particular?

Portia Collins
Because it was six chapters.

Matt Tully
Is that because it was short?

Portia Collins
Yep. It was short, and I could read it in one sitting. And I had also been following another ministry simultaneously as this is all happening, and I’m also Googling like crazy. So, I’m reading Crossway articles and Desiring God and all these different places. I said, Every evening when I get off work, I’m just going to come home and I’m going to read my Bible.

Matt Tully
So, there was this hunger. There was a hunger to learn.

Portia Collins
That was developing out of my desperation, because I was so broken. I got a Bible in a translation that I could understand. I grew up reading the King James Version—no shade to anybody who likes the King James Version.

Matt Tully
We describe the ESV as in the legacy of the King James Version.

Portia Collins
But at that time, I couldn’t understand old English like that, and so I got a Bible that was easier for me to understand, and I would read every night. And so this particular night I chose Galatians, like I said, solely because it was six chapters, and I was like, I can read all of this in one sitting. And it changed my life. It changed my life. I walked away with a clearer understanding of the gospel. But not only that. I walked away truly understanding what it means to be free in Christ. It was as if a weight had lifted, because prior to this, even in my curiosity and my hunger that was growing in God’s word, there was still a piece of me that said I need to do the church thing. I need to make sure I read my Bible. There was still some legalism there.

Matt Tully
I think a lot of us struggle with that. And that’s the whole point of the book of Galatians.

Portia Collins
Yes. I love the way that Paul writes. I love all the books of the Bible, but I’m quite fond of Paul’s letters. He has this way of writing where you get this, good, rich doctrine at the beginning, and then he shows you what it looks like in practice. And for me, I think for so long I had lived my life with the practice first without having that practice sit on the foundation of good doctrine. And so reading Galatians helped me to understand that my standing before God is secure because of Jesus. Period. There’s nothing that I add to the work that Jesus has done. But because of the work that he's done and because of him saving me, this is the fruit that I get to bear. So, in my mind, I stopped seeing those good days of me not cussing anybody out and living to what I thought was a good standard—I saw that as pointless. Even if I do live in a way where I’m bearing good fruit, this is a testament to what Jesus has done, not to what I’m doing. And it changed my life. It was like this fire was lit inside of me.

Matt Tully
Do you remember having a sense that night that something really big had happened?

Portia Collins
Oh, yes, because it was such a visceral, emotional response. I remember being face to the floor in tears because I was overjoyed. I was overjoyed because I realized it’s not me. And it was like everything that I felt had defined me was lifted. And then going forward it was like, I have a hope that is in Christ! I can look to him. He is producing the fruit that we see. All these things that I’ve been trying to manufacture on my own—love, joy, peace, patience—these are things that he’s producing in me, and I can be confident that his work secures my standing. Period. I remember being in tears, and I felt free. That’s the only way that I can explain it. I felt free. For the first time I didn’t have that fear in the back of my mind that if I don’t do this, then I’m going to mess it up or I’m going to blow it. I felt safe and I felt secure and I felt free to serve God, and I didn’t feel ashamed. There were some limitations that I had placed on myself in terms of witnessing to others and ministering to others that I felt like, I can’t do this because I’ve blown it. And after reading Galatians, I felt free to serve him. And honestly, I felt compelled: I’ve got to share this with somebody else because I know there are a lot of people who are in the same situation as me who are trying to balance this whole legalism and licentiousness thing, and they need to hear the truth of the gospel and hear what Paul is saying in his book. And so it lit a fire. For years this has been a book that I’ve come back to over and over. I’ve shared these truths sitting on my couch with friends and with mentees. And it has just been life changing for me.

Matt Tully
So, what happened next? You have this incredible encounter with the book of Galatians, and then what happened? What did you do?

Portia Collins
I keep reading the Bible from there, and I start seeing the same truths that are in Galatians are connected. The Bible is—and I say this all the time when I’m teaching and ministering to women—prior to that experience reading Galatians, I saw the Bible as a collection of disjointed stories. After reading Galatians and then wanting to read more of the Bible—and let me be clear. I know that it was a miracle that God allowed my heart and the eyes of my heart and my mind to receive what was in Galatians. Because I’m pretty sure there are parts of that book that I had read before and it just didn’t stick. But that night something miraculous happened, and it prompted me or spurred me to read more of Scripture. And then I started seeing how this is one hugely woven picture. And it just made me more and more curious about the Bible and also more and more excited and encouraged to share how beautiful God’s story is and how he intricately puts his word together. I wanted to share that with more people. Those in closest proximity to me first, but then anybody who would listen. So, social media became an outlet where a lot of nights, as I was reading and doing my own personal Bible study, I would have to immediately share what I was learning or gleaning in Scripture. I would take that and share that on my social media pages. And it just grew and grew from there. And I realized too that I had a heart for this type of ministry and teaching, and so then I began to take more of a formal approach, saying, How can I organize this and really begin to offer resources and to even offer myself to serve in this way to women?

Matt Tully
It’s amazing how your own personal story is such a great illustration of the power of the Bible. Through the Spirit, God uses the word to change us, to open our eyes, to save us.

Portia Collins
And what he gives us is not just meant for us to sit on and keep it. But when you truly receive the gospel and the gift of that, it’s like you want to give that good news to other people.

12:49 - Studying Scripture Is a Delight, Not a Burden

Matt Tully
I know one of the things that you’re most passionate about, and I want to talk a little bit about the ministry that you founded in a little bit, but you really are passionate about helping women know how to read the Bible and grow in their confidence in reading and studying the Bible for themselves—to experience something similar to what you experienced. What did that growth in your ability and your understanding of how to read Scripture work? What did that look like? Were there people in your life who helped you? Were there older women, perhaps, who helped you to learn how to do that yourself?

Portia Collins
Well, surprisingly, there were what I call "people afar" who helped me. So, remember when I said I was Googling? I’m taking in the Bible, but I’m also Googling things, like doctrinal things and theological concepts.

Matt Tully
In the introduction you tell the story of how you started looking up the word exegesis.

Portia Collins
Well, I was really trying to study about Bible study and different methods, because you got the SOAP method, and then I specifically used the inductive Bible study method in my own study. And so I was searching and ran across something that was describing exegesis. And I’m not going to lie. When I first saw the word, I was like, Oh, this is a little too much for me.

Matt Tully
Uh oh. It just got deep.

Portia Collins
Yeah, this just got deep. But the more I read the article—and it was a really well-written article that I feel like didn’t use such lofty language that I wanted to run for the hills, and so I was intrigued. And the more I read, the more I wanted to practice that and get into that.
And then I’ve done a little time at seminary, and so that kind of grew it. What I realized in my internet searching is that how we study the Bible is just as important as studying the Bible. Think of it as sitting down to eat a meal—particularly, soup. If I try to eat soup with just my hands, it is going to be so hard. That soup is going to run through my fingers.

Matt Tully
Or a fork.

Portia Collins
Yeah. Or a fork. And so you can sit down to do this all day, but if you don’t have the right tools, then you’re not going to get exactly what you need to be getting.

Matt Tully
You’re going to miss a lot of stuff.

Portia Collins
Right. You may get something, but there’s a lot that you’re going to miss. And honestly, that was like the setting that I grew up. I was getting something, but I wasn’t getting the meat of Scripture. And so what made me want to really jump down this rabbit hole of equipping women was my own being ill-equipped to read the Scriptures and feeling not very confident and feeling like if I didn’t have my pastor sitting beside me, then I couldn’t read my Bible clearly. And so I wanted women to realize that this is something that they can engage in with confidence, that God wants them to engage in. This whole misconception that, at that time, women shouldn’t be reading the Bible, or that’s what your pastor is for. I think that God was showing me, no, I call you to study the Scriptures just as faithfully as the preacher man and as the theologian, and you can do this and not be intimidated about it. And you can do this, and you can have time to do it. Sometimes there’s this weird tension between our responsibility as women and our call to steep in the Scriptures, and I don’t think that there should be a fight between the two. I think that ultimately, steeping in the Scriptures is going to lend itself to the various capacities that we work in and as women. And so I really want women to see studying Scripture as a delight and not a burden; to see it as something that they can do and not something that’s above their pay grade or above their head. I want them to find the joy that I find in Scripture. This is my happy place, man. The Bible, studying all the theology things—it’s my happy place because I get to know who God is more as he’s revealed himself through Scripture.

Matt Tully
I can imagine there’s someone listening who really resonates with what you said about just feeling intimidated by all of this, feeling like, I just don’t know if I’m cut out for this. I don’t have the training. But they look at you and they think, Well, how did you have the confidence to sort of pursue this on your own? Even if you didn’t feel confident initially, you had the gusto to go read those articles and do that research and that study and stick with it. What would you say to the woman listening right now who just says, *I don’t feel like I even have that. I just don’t know what to do.

Portia Collins
Honestly, the first thing that I would say is pray. Pray for a holy zeal. Simultaneously during all this time, and I can’t remember if it was before or right after I had this experience with Galatians, I also read John Piper’s When I Don’t Desire God, and it changed my life too. Maybe it was an evening time, but I just remember praying and asking God, Lord, give me a holy zeal for you. Not just to say I’m Christian and I’m checking the box, but give me a fire to truly run for you, to show your glory through my own life. And so the first thing that I would say to a woman, if she’s sitting in her kitchen listening to this, is pray. Pray for that holy zeal for God’s word. You may be very familiar with the book of Galatians and doctrines, but you feel like, Hey. This ain’t for me. I just want you to reconsider that it probably is for you. Now, you may not be starting a ministry or anything like that, but there are people and women in your life who need to hear the truth. That you are called to disciple is a calling that you should take seriously. I’m reminded in Matthew 28 that as we are taught and as we are discipled, we are called to do the same thing. And so I would encourage you first to just pray that God will give you that fire and that holy zeal to serve and to disciple and to share in this way. And then I would say get out of your own head and stop thinking about it, because I guarantee you there are opportunities in front of you that you just probably don’t even realize. Even if it’s with your own children. I always say my daughter is my first disciple. So, even if I never write another book and I never tell an audience of 3,000 women all the things that I’m learning, I can tell my daughter, and it’s just as meaningful for the kingdom.

Matt Tully
That’s so good. I’m sure there could be listeners right now who are on both sides of the spectrum—those who feel intimidated by God’s word and don’t feel like they have the tools to really dig in for themselves, and then all the way over to people who maybe feel overly familiar with God’s word. They’ve been Christians for a long time, they grew up in really good churches, and maybe it just feels a little bit stale and a little bit like, I know Galatians. I’ve studied that two times. But I love that there’s a passion that you’re evidencing here as someone who has spent a lot of time in the Bible.

Portia Collins
Yeah, because I think that the Bible is the gift that keeps on giving. One of the things that I like to do is read through the Bible every year. Granted, I’m gonna tell you. I’m a fast-paced girl, because if I’ve got to drag it out 365 days, I’m probably not going to do it. But if I can do it in a tight window, like thirty days or ninety days—

Matt Tully
Thirty days!

Portia Collins
Yep. Thirty days is about three hours of reading a day. And so you can break it up. But reading or even listening (by the way, you can listen on the ESV app) to Scripture is such a good way to just meditate on God’s word. There has not been a time that I have approached God’s word and I haven’t gotten something. I always get something fresh. Always. This study coming to fruition has been years. I have been studying this book for over ten years and just soaking in it. Even now, the study is in print and there’s still things that I’m like, Oh, I wish I had included this! Because God’s word is fresh, and it’s good for every moment of our life. And so I would encourage someone who maybe feels like God’s word is stale, just ask him. Again, prayer is such a big thing. When I feel like my heart is growing cold, it’s, Lord, help me! Help me! Help me to find joy and delight in the truth of your word! And if you are truly sitting down to seek him, you’re going to find him. You’re going to find who he is in those pages. And that is always so life-giving every time for me.

22:32 - She Shall Be Called

Matt Tully
Absolutely. Tell us a little bit about She Shall Be Called and how that relates to what we’re talking about.

Portia Collins
She Shall Be Called really started off as this online community where I was connecting with other women and just sharing the truth of the gospel and creating resources. All the things that I was learning, I was taking it and teaching other women. And so it was just really born from a desire to help women who may have been in or who were in situations like me. They were churched, but they didn’t really know how to engage with the Bible on their own, or they were intimidated. I remember at the start of She Shall Be Called, I did this random survey. I think I sent it out through social media.

Matt Tully
Your followers.

Portia Collins
Yes. I was connected to a lot of women, and so I think I got like 100 respondents. The majority of them, like 70 percent of them, stated that they were intimidated by doing solo Bible study. And that for me showed there’s a need here. There’s a need to help women get comfortable with their Bible and themselves, to not feel like their understanding of God’s word is dependent on someone else.

Matt Tully
Not that teachers aren’t helpful and good, like pastors.

Portia Collins
Not that teachers aren’t helpful, but ultimately, just like I said before, we are equipped to equip. So, if we are being "equipped" and yet there’s a disconnect there to where you don’t even feel comfortable to go forward, that’s a problem. This is where discipleship really comes into play. And so I think that discipleship works best, of course, when your life on life in the same community. But I do think that there’s an element of discipleship that can happen from afar through ministries like She Shall Be Called, by providing tools and providing access to me or access to certain resources that can be helpful in encouraging women in the Scripture, to encourage them to learn how to dig in and to meditate on Scripture. And so that’s really what it was. It was a burden to see women be equipped and to feel confident in the call of being a disciple and discipling others.

25:11 - Lightning Round

Matt Tully
And I think this new study that you’ve written with Crossway is an extension of that. Again, it could be a great introduction to how to study the Bible and actually digging into an amazing book. Okay. Last few lightning round questions for you.

Portia Collins
All right. Let’s go.

Matt Tully
What living person has had the biggest impact on how you study the Bible today?

Portia Collins
Oh, man. You threw a hard question out here. I’m going to have to say, and I’ve only met him a couple of times, John Piper.

Matt Tully
I’m sure a lot of people would say that.

Portia Collins
John Piper. Now, honestly, you said living, which boxed me in a little bit.

Matt Tully
Okay, let’s broaden it to dead people, presumably, as well.

Portia Collins
Tim Keller. One hundred percent. I’ve read so many of his studies, like his Romans for You study. In fact, the majority of that Googling was me running across Tim Keller sermons and resources or John Piper. And so those would be the two that have deeply influenced my theology.

Matt Tully
Okay. Another question. When do you prefer to study the Bible for yourself for your own personal edification? Do you do it in the morning, in the evening, or somewhere in between, like lunchtime?

Portia Collins
I get in where I can fit in.

Matt Tully
You’ve got a young daughter.

Portia Collins
Yep. And I deal with some chronic illness, and so sometimes mornings are hard for me. And so if I can’t get it in the morning, then I’ll do it at night. Anytime, lunchtime, anytime. And sometimes it may be all of those times in the same day, and so I’m not one of those coffee and big comfy blanket aesthetic kind of girls with the Bible and their highlighters. I’m not that girl. I get in anywhere and wherever I can. I’m a huge Logos Bible software user. And so if I’m on my computer and something pops in my head, I can easily segue into studying the Bible.

Matt Tully
You mentioned highlighters. That’s another question I had. When you have your physical Bible in front of you, do you use a pen, a pencil, a highlighter, or something else? What’s your main tool?

Portia Collins
I would say my main tool would be a pencil and then a highlighter if I have it near. But I’ve really been enjoying these spiral-bound ESV Scripture journals. And so I love how big they are.
Matt Tully
They’re eight and a half by eleven.

Portia Collins
Yes.

Matt Tully
They’re really nice.

Portia Collins
It is my favorite. I take it to church with me on Sunday because like my pastor’s preaching through Philippians right now.

Matt Tully
So, you’ve got this big old thing you’re folding over.

Portia Collins
Oh, and look, I’m pretty sure everybody’s going to buy y’all out of stock because every time somebody at church sees me with it, they want one. But it’s such a good size for note taking, and then I can write in between the spaces, and so I’ve been using that a lot. So, pencil is probably going to be my go-to, and if I have a highlighter handy, yeah. But mainly annotating with a pencil.

Matt Tully
And just to be clear, this is not a paid sponsorship for these ESV journals.

Portia Collins
It’s not. Well, listen. I’ve been a poster child. Before even becoming a Crossway author, there have been so many resources that I have used.

Matt Tully
I think that’s true for many of us, even those of us who work here. Okay. What book of the Bible have you not really studied in depth but really want to?

Portia Collins
Obadiah. And I can say “my really want to” is just because I know I haven’t studied that book. I probably read it a couple of times, but I really would like to sit down and study it. I’m learning or desiring to be kind of like rogue in that. I want to go and read and study the (I don’t know if I’m permitted to say this, but I’m going to say it) the not-so-sexy-books of the Bible—the ones that you really don’t find a study on. You may find good commentaries, but I don’t know if I know of many studies on the book of Obadiah.

Matt Tully
Probably not a ton of sermon series on Obadiah compared to a Galatians or something.

Portia Collins
A Galatians or Philippians or something like that. So, Obadiah would probably be one.

Matt Tully
All right, last question. So, as we’ve said, this new study you’ve written for Crossway is on Galatians. So I’ve got to ask, and I know this is gonna be hard and maybe impossible, but wat’s your favorite verse or favorite couple of verses from Galatians?

Portia Collins
If I had to pick, I know exactly where I’m going. It’s going to be at the beginning of chapter three, where Paul says, "Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this, Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Here’s why I like this: because he did not pull his punches. First of all, there isn’t any other place in the New Testament or in Scripture on the whole where he uses this word "bewitched." So, he’s using some language here, and he is being tough with them, and I think that’s a good thing. I remember my first time reading that, and I chuckled because I was like, He is mad! I go back to that a lot, especially with my own self when I find myself sliding into those moments of legalism. I’m like, Oh, foolish Portia, who has bewitched you?

Matt Tully
It’s just so true to the struggle that we all have as Christians. We understand that we need the gospel to become Christians, but so often we want to go back to the law in our Christian life, and that’s not what we’re called to do.

Portia Collins
And we’re foolish when we do that. We need to hear we’re foolish. Who has bewitched you? And so I think that probably wouldn’t be what most people would pick, but it’s just always stood out to me. And I think it’s a reminder of what I need, just really taking into account that he uses such hard language to convey such a gross error.

Matt Tully
Portia, thank you so much for sharing a little bit about your own journey, your own story, the way that God used Scripture to open your eyes to the gospel, and now your heart to help other women to experience that as well. We appreciate it.

Portia Collins
Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Popular Articles in This Series

View All

Podcast: Help! I Hate My Job (Jim Hamilton)

January 06, 2020

Jim Hamilton discusses what to do when you hate your job, offering encouragement for those frustrated in their work and explaining the difference between a job and a vocation.

Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian ministry that exists solely for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel through publishing gospel-centered, Bible-centered content. Learn more or donate today at crossway.org/about.