One of the Visual Faith® practices that I have been wanting to dive deeper into is journaling in the pages of my Bible. Over the last several years, I have been experimenting with various visual faith practices–-a creative prayer practice, verse mapping, devotional journaling, and scripture scribing… (the list goes on). Visual faith practices help ordinary people like you and me focus on God’s Word and prayer. Bible Journaling is no exception. In this post, I’m sharing what I have learned about how to start Bible journaling.
Many years ago, I played a little with the popular practice of highlighting various verses with different colors–an early version of modern Bible Journaling. You can still find guidelines for how to highlight in your Bible online. One example: red for salvation, yellow for the Triune God, green for commandments and so forth. There’s not one correct system.
Really, there’s not one right way to do any of this! Choose what works best for you in each season of your faith journey.
In the past ten years or so, I’ve begun writing in the margins of my Bible, tiny notes from sermons or Bible studies in the one-quarter inch white space.
Then I discovered journaling Bibles where instead of two columns, the text is in one column with ample white space for notes and such. I continued the same practice but just had a lot more room to write notes.
Even more recently, I’ve explored doodling and adding more creative journaling to the pages or adding extra pages I’ve created, also known as “tip-ins.”
All of this is Bible Journaling.
Before diving into how to start Bible journaling, maybe I should be a little more specific about what Bible journaling is.
What Is Bible Journaling?
Simply, Bible Journaling is the practice of writing in your Bible. Sometimes these are underlined or highlighted passages or prayers, doodles, notes, or thoughts scribbled in the margins that help you privately process God’s Word. For others, these are beautiful, careful drawings done and shared with others as an act of worship.
Like other visual faith practices, it is what you make it, but no matter how you practice Bible Journaling, the goal is to engage more deeply with Scripture.
Modern Marginalia
For centuries, Christians have underlined or highlighted passages and used the margins of their Bibles to take notes, also called marginalia (this word is used to describe the words and images in the margins of books–not just Bibles, though). Just search for images of “marginalia” online and you’ll find a plethora of lovely, thoughtful, and sometimes provocative examples.
“In the history of the church, people have filled their margins with just about every imaginable response to scripture” (57). Johann Sebastian Bach’s Bible “shows more than three hundred touch points of musical inspiration.” Interestingly, his Bible is housed at the Concordia Seminary Library in St. Louis. (Source:Writing in the Margins)
One well-researched article (“Did You Know Martin Luther Practiced Bible Journaling?”) indicates that Martin Luther valued writing in the margins of Bibles. “He (Luther) had the printers produce special Bibles with lines that were spaced to leave ample room for students to take notes both between the lines and in the margins. What made Luther’s teaching style unique was his combination of scholarship and devotion: he explained the Bible texts carefully using the most recent scholarly insights and then applied these to faith life.”
I love that Luther taught his students to take notes in their Bibles!
Over the last 20 years, publishers have also begun printing Bibles with wider margins or even extra pages (aka Interleaved Bibles) to leave room for thoughts or sermon notes. And recently, a more creative form of Bible Journaling has emerged, where practitioners use paints, stamps, colored pens and pencils to draw and handletter in the margins as they meditate and pray.
What Bible Journaling Isn’t
Bible Journaling is not about the art itself. While it may be a creative outlet for artistic people, the goal shouldn’t be a way to display your artistic abilities. As with all visual faith, Bible Journaling is about you growing closer to the Lord through prayer and reflection using visual tools.
Your Bible Journal will not look like anyone else’s. It’s your own private devotional practice–no pressure to make it perfect or to share it with anybody else unless you choose to do this. (But if you find yourself eager to create the art only because you want to share it on social media, then take a step back, pray and consider your motivations.)
Of course, you don’t need to actually do the writing or artwork inside your Bible. But, for the purposes of this blog post, I will call that faith journaling instead of Bible journaling.
Why Bible Journal?
To focus and remember
Perhaps you are looking for a new way to linger in God’s Word. You’ve read His Word for years and long to delight in a different way. Or perhaps, like me, you find yourself distracted when you open your Bible.
Bible Journaling can help you linger in God’s Word. Just like with other visual faith practices, this is another way to focus, slow down, and savor the sweetness of His love letter to you.
To leave a legacy gift
I often think how beautiful it would be to have a Bible from my mother or grandmother with their favorite passages underlined or highlighted! I’ve recently heard from other grandmothers that are journaling in several Bibles as gifts for their grandchildren. What a beautiful legacy of faith for generations! Again, these Bibles don’t need to be professional art projects. Adding simple notes in your own handwriting will be a blessing for generations to come.
How to Start Bible Journaling: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
With a better understanding of what Bible journaling is and why you might want to try, let’s dive into how to start Bible journaling.
#1. Choose the Bible.
Ask yourself a few questions: Will this be your primary Bible? Or will you use it only for your personal devotional time? Do you want to find a new Bible just for this purpose?
You can begin with the Bible you already own or you can search your local bookstore or order online. If you’re searching for a new Bible, be ready. There are dozens of choices nowadays.
This is the one I’ve been using for about 5 years, and I love it because it has wide margins with lined spaces for note-taking. It also has 350 pre-printed images so all you need to do is add color. It’s also a pretty Bible with a lovely teal cover and blue graphic flowers printed on the fore edge.
All this being said, don’t get too caught up in choosing the “right” journaling Bible. What works for me may not work for you. Begin somewhere and discover what works best for you and your methods.
#2. Gather your supplies.
You don’t need anything fancy to start this practice. A simple ballpoint pen or a colored pencil will work great! As you try different tools, you will find what works for you. I prefer using a ballpoint pen in my note-taking, and I use various highlighters and colored pencils for my highlighting and doodles.
As you become more adventurous and decide to paint or glue “ephemera” into your Bible, you’ll need new tools and maybe a little more guidance. Search online and you’ll find dozens of teachers and videos that can help you learn how to start Bible journaling. You can also head over to the workshops on the Visual Faith® Ministry website and find an introductory video on Bible Journaling for a low cost. But for now, here are just a few suggestions:
- Glue sticks
- Double sided tape
- Tape runner
- Glue Dots
- Stencils
- Rubber stamps
- Tracing paper
#3. Start with words, highlights, and tip-ins.
Actually opening your Bible and putting a pen or a highlighter to a page may be intimidating, especially if it’s a brand new Bible or one that you’ve loved and used for years. Start by finding one of your go-to passages and underline it. Or highlight it. Or draw a heart next to it. You’ve started!
When you begin your next devotional time, use your physical Bible (instead of the app on your phone or tablet, which I sometimes use!), and grab a pen. Find the passage that’s highlighted in the devotion and underline that one. Also be sure to add the date whenever you write in your Bible. It’s wonderful to look back and see when you’ve meditated on a particular passage!
Next Sunday, take your Bible to church with you so you can scribble notes in the tiny margins. This pen may help because it’s a fine ballpoint for smaller writing and won’t bleed through thin paper.
Maybe you have a folder filled with Bible study notes from a class you took recently? Transfer the Bible study notes into your journaling Bible.
You may want to write your notes on another piece of paper and then glue the edge and “tip” it into the Bible. Run the crafting glue down the edge of the paper and then insert into the center gutter of the page. Close your Bible and then press to secure. I just started using this method and love how I can add extra pages to my Bible!
Experiment. One practitioner suggests a 21-day experiment where you open your Bible every day for 21 days and add something to it – words or an image or a doodle. I love this idea!
#4. Add doodles and pre-printed Bible margins.
If you like to color and doodle, try doing this inside your Bible. Remember, perfection is not the goal. Meeting God in His Word is the goal, and the longer you linger with a passage or a Bible story or character, the more it sinks in and stays with you.
What kind of doodles can you use? I love to draw circles around words, arrows that connect words, and hearts next to favorite passages. Sometimes I’ll write a question mark when something confuses me, and this reminds me to return to study that passage if I don’t have time at that moment.
The Visual Faith® Ministry website and CPH have oodles of free pre-printed Bible margins that you can print and tape/glue into your Bible to color. All free!
You can also find complete Bible journaling kits! These may be exactly what you need to get started.
Bible Journaling for Beginners: Common Questions & Concerns
Do I need to be artistic?
Short answer: Of course not.
This practice, like all visual faith practices, is about the process, not the finished product. So enjoy the process, dig in, and savor your time in the Word. You never have to share this with anyone–although, sharing your work (no matter how artistic) might inspire someone else to engage in God’s Word a little more, too.
What if I don’t want to draw in my Bible?
I’ve always been a write-in-the-book person, and I encouraged my students to annotate in their books, to interact with the text of novels we were studying (only if they owned the book!), but it is certainly not required.
It might be challenging for you to write in any book, especially your Bible. I understand, and it’s okay. If that’s something you struggle to get past, you may enjoy starting a devotional journal or even a faith journal in notebooks using many of the same tools and practices I talk about in this post.
If you decide to faith journal instead, then you could use any lined notebook or a sketchbook with blank pages so you can create exactly what you want.
I feel intimidated to try this.
If you feel intimidated by this process, consider gathering in your home or at church with a few friends and try this together. Choose one passage, study it, and then allow quiet time for journaling. You will be blessed by the beautiful and creative responses.
Most importantly, open your Bible and dwell with God’s Word. Reflect on this verse:
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
Perhaps this is the best place for you to begin your Bible journaling journey. Go ahead now, look it up, highlight it.
There you go, reading, marking, and inwardly digesting God’s Word.
To God be the glory.
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