I mostly agree. What really turned me around was using online lexicons from biblehub and blueletterbible. If a verse confuses me, or I believe it can be used to support a particular doctrine, I go to the lexicons to drill in to what was actually written.
Over time you’ll find yourself familiar with those shades of meaning to the point of rote knowledge, then those verses that arise in your mind unbidden will really begin to be pertinent. Context shades the meaning to the point that it’s rather startling, never having viewed a particular passage in that manner before. That book really is alive, I know some think that sounds nuts but it is.