I've been secretly admiring bible journaling for awhile now. I have been intrigued by all the beautiful pages and messages. At first I kinda struggled with the idea of doing art in a bible. Is it disrespectful? Is it defacing the bible?
As I asked myself these questions, while looking at people's bible journaling pages, I decided that if I was reading, studying, and doing this to glorify God then it was ok. So, I went out and purchased a bible just for bible journaling.
For my first bible journaling entry, I read Romans 12:9-12:21.
9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
After I read and studied these scriptures, I used a clear stamp from the
My Besties Shop called
Butterfly Kisses to put the image on the page. I then colored in the sweet My Bestie with Copic markers. As I was coloring I was thinking about the scriptures I had read. I re-read them several times.
When I was finished coloring, I wanted to add something more. There were many words in these scriptures that stood out to me. I decided to write the words around the page that had touched me...
Love
Pray
Hope
Good
Overcome
Patient
Honor
Share
Rejoice
Serve
Be joyful
Bless
Harmony
I am not a reader. I never have been. I wanted to start reading my scriptures and needed a way to make it more interesting to me. Bible journaling not only made reading my scriptures fun, it made me remember what I read. I had these scriptures in my head for days.
