Today’s topic is one I have been meaning to blog about for a while— those that have been around for a while may remember me mentioning wanting to do a more in depth article some time back. Well, here it is:
Disclaimer: I hope I don’t offend anyone by this idea. That definitely is not my intention. I know some people are of the mind that you should never write in your Bible no matter what, so if you feel this way, please feel free to stop reading now. However, I, myself, have found this practice to be such a wonderful way to grow closer to the Lord.
To get started, this topic isn’t something new or novel. Bible Journaling isn’t a some recent fad or trend. While maybe it wasn’t officially called Bible journaling back then, but many of us have seen a good old saint of God with a well-loved Bible. It was dog-eared from years of reading, and no matter where you opened it, you could find handwritten notes, prayer requests, praise reports, sticky notes, highlights, and underlines. BUT those handwritten scrawls documented that person’s personal walk with the Lord!! This IS the kind of Bible journaling I want to talk about! In my opinion, Bible journaling should be about reading your Bible and taking the time to dwell on its precepts and meditate on His Word. Bible Journaling is in essence a chronology of your spiritual journey.
It should be an ever evolving narrative of what God is doing in you and through you and what He is teaching you. It can also serve as a record of the messages preached by the men of God that you are blessed to be able to witness and hide in your heart!
So what is the purpose of Bible journaling?
Well, there are many different takes on it. But today, I am going to list my own personal reasons only. I can’t attest to anyone else’s reasoning or motives as to why they Bible journal but here are mine.
Personally, I use Bible journaling for the following reasons:
• to affirm (help me remember!) sermons preached and taught at church. (this is my personal favorite and my most common bible journaling reason!) i have had my current Bible for many years and i can flip it open and recall to mind any particular message preached at any church service I have attended after reading my notes. It helps me to call out important phrases or points in the message and also to include some of the history or an relevant example that a minister teaches/includes with the sermon.
• to document special services or events (baby dedications, funerals, baptisms, youth camps, campmeetings, conferences, etc.) It is a great way to write down special moments or sayings spoken at these events to preserve those memories or passages of Scripture read.
• to highlight/showcase important doctrinal/denominational verses (studying out the foundational truths of why we believe what we believe is an excellent way to cement those teachings in our own heart! Hiding His Word in our heart that we might not sin against Him! Meditating and studying those verses out for ourself will help us recall them more easily when asked by someone about our beliefs!)
• to write down a personal Word from the Lord to make sure I never forget it!! ( it may be just a private “nugget” that God just opened up to me in my devotions; it may be an interpreted Word from the Lord in a service through tongues; or it may be that still, small voice that I felt minister to my soul…writing these things down helps me to remember them and will give me “ammunition to fight the devil with”
• to keep my notes in a safe and relevant place. Every time I open up to a specific passage, there are my past notes readily available. I don’t have to try to find a notebook or a file to study that particular verse or topic. I keep my notes in the location/verse reference that best suits the study. I especially love this idea when the pastor or the preacher teaches on a specific topic. I try to write the basic notes in the most relevant verse reference location, but I try to include all the verse references he will provide on the said topic as well so later, the topic’s references are written down all together for me to go study on my own.
• to slow down and meditate on or to memorize a particular verse. By writing the verse in the margin, or by focusing on one or a few individual verses, it helps solidify the text in my mind and aids in memorizing. I believe Bible memorization is still very important in the life of a Believer!
• to destress and “be still” while absorbing God’s Word. Bible Journaling forces you to slow down and focus on God’s Word. In a fast paced world, something we desperately NEED that quiet time that stills our souls! I like to do it early in the morning or later in the evening when the rest of my family is asleep. It is very cathartic to just be still and meditate in God’s Word! It is a great stress reliever to spend quality time with the Prince of Peace! Bible Journaling— essentially studying the Word of God—if you will, will build a strong Spiritual foundation under you!
Bible journaling can lead to a life-changing habit of illustrating, documenting, praying, and reading God’s Word in a more personal way if you are willing to take the time to do it!!
Bible journaling helps us to listen to what God is telling us and record that insight in a place close to our heart – our Bibles!!
😭 this one makes me get all sappy….
• to leave behind one day as a legacy of my personal walk with God for my children.
I think this would be one of the most amazing gifts to receive from a loved one—A well used, well loved Bible full of personal notes, prayers, messages, events, highlighted verses, doodles, promises from God, and records of struggles/victories.
I hope one day, after I’m long gone, if God tarries that long (hopefully, He doesn’t! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!), my own children can flip through this Mama’s Bible and find strength and comfort from the pages of my personal Bible. It can be like continued encouragement from me long after I’m gone. It may also even help them get to know me in a better way through viewing my journey with the Lord.
On that note:
Recently, when I was looking at some Bible journaling things online, I found a wonderful idea that I would love to implement myself one day—(wish I would have started sooner though!) There was a lady who actually made both of her children their own personalized “legacy” bibles. She started when they were very young and worked on each child’s Bible for years. Not only was it just done by their mom, their mother personalized each entire Bible to be geared toward that child. She had notes, prayers, advice, highlighted verses, quotes, etc. tailored to each child with their own personality and character traits in mind. She had notes, encouragement, verses, and advice in there for each stage of their adult lives. She recommended working on the Bible for the entirety of their childhood and gifting it to them on their wedding day or perhaps high school graduation or something. Especially if (God forbid!) something would happen to Mama… those kids could still have years of wisdom and counsel from their mother in light of God’s Word! 😭🙌🏼 What a treasure!
So, how do you Bible journal ?
First, I highly recommend purchasing a Bible specifically made for note taking. There are several on the market and I have tried a few different ones. But my personal favorite is this one. It has wide margins on each side of the Bible text with printed lines for writing/note taking. I love that the lines are there to keep all my notes/doodles neat and orderly. (Or am I the only one who can’t write straight on unlined paper to save my life? lol 😂)
( I still respect the Bible as the Written, Living Word of God and I do not wish to disfigure the text so having the predesignated note area of a Bible made specifically for this practice is super great in my opinion!! )
I absolutely love this Bible! (My daughter asked me a question a while back… “Mom, if the house caught on fire and we all were safe but you could stop and grab only one single thing, what would it be??” Without hesitation, I replied “my Bible”. Everything else can be replaced. My Bible, however, can not. (Oh, I know I could buy a new one but it wouldn’t be the same) My journaling Bible is my most prized physical possession!!
So…..
If you are interested in trying Bible journaling, but it seems daunting, don’t fret—
start out simple:
Take notes at church—
I personally use my Journaling Bible as my “church” Bible. Every service, I write down the date, who ministered, what church I am at ( yes, I take it to other meetings!), what they preached on, and any extra sermon notes/doodles to go with the message in the wide margins in the Bible in the section where the preacher reads their main text. This is a treasure trove to comb back through after years and years of doing this! I highly recommend it!
Simple note taking along with sermon notes (in margins)
Pick a favorite verse or passage and meditate on it while illustrating it in the margins of your journaling Bible.
(Tip: Practice writing it out on notebook paper until you are happy with how it looks and the placement. ) Then write it out in the margin of your Bible in the verse’s reference location. Every time you flip through your Bible, you can see that verse highlighted/showcased in the margin.
Sometimes, I like to draw a little visual doodle that correlates with either the message I am writing down or a little picture to go with the verse I am studying on. I do not claim to be an artist ( or even artistic by any means!) but I have found that adding a little sketch or image that relates to the notes I am taking adds visual interest and helps me remember the words I am writing even better. So, artist or not, I try to be creative to aid my memory!
Disclaimer: In recent years, there has been a resurgence of so called Creative Bible Journaling but the focus of a lot of that movement seems to be on the beautiful art and fancy fonts and how creative you can design a Bible page—when the focus should be solely on the Word of God. No artwork, doodle, sketch or painting in your Bible should detract or overshadow from the text. I would never obscure or cover the text in any way! The Words of Life are the most important thing! Not my art!
So, when I use this term, Bible Journaling, please know I am advocating simple and concise doodles and prayers/notes/quotes/stickers that will complement the topic or passage not overwhelm it or take away/cover up the true meaning!!
Bible journaling can also be a wonderful outlet for you to connect in a more spiritual way with relatives or friends. I got my daughter her own journaling Bible last year—I got her one that has some pre-designated “coloring book style” drawings outlines and verses in the margins that she can easily color in with her gel pens or colored pencils. It gives her a good outline to follow so it’s not overwhelming to her, yet allows her to experience the benefits of “being still” while “taking in” God’s Word herself. There are also blank margins for her to use as she develops her own devotions and begins to study God’s Word for herself. I love having this quiet time with her and journaling God’s Word together.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this little hobby of mine in hopes that perhaps it may be a blessing to someone else. I started using a Journaling Bible about 10 years ago. It has helped me so much! Before I started using the actual journaling Bible, even growing up, I was a zealous note taker — I used little notebooks to take notes of sermons at church and meetings we attended but most of those notes got lost or torn up over the years and I have very few of them left, but since I started using a journaling Bible, all my notes stay nice and neat and are always available for me to go back to reference. So for that reason alone, I highly recommend it!!
-Tiphanie ♥
If you have any questions or comments, or would like any further clarification, please feel free to reach out to me! I would love to hear from you. All feedback is highly appreciated!!
*****please don’t laugh at my pitiful doodling! Lol 😂 but here are some more examples of what Bible journaling looks like for me…..*******
(I also use sticky notes - on congested pages to add more space!) —easy to flip up and read text below.
I also have used stickers to embellish a verse from time to time.
I like using colored pens and coloring pencils best.
