Written and media by Maggie Schoepke.
The key to any good organization is communication. People skills such as psychology, sociology, and business are often requirements for a college education. Greenville College’s strength-based institution is one that helps each student to develop their own unique form of communication. At GC, the Christian community places value on personal skill sets. As a result, they have produced a plethora of tools to help individuals express themselves creatively. A recent trend, similar to the ever-popular line of adult coloring books, is an art process called Bible journaling. Depending on your unique strengths, this might be a way for you to communicate and express yourself.
In short, Bible journaling is an illustrative form of communication that helps people come to a deeper realization of God and His Creation through visualizing stories in the Bible. Therefore, each person’s journal entry will vary in interpretation. The type of Bible one owns plays an important role in how much room the artist has to journal. If you are interested in Bible journaling, check out the large array of wide margin Bibles and journaling Bibles that exist for this purpose.
Bible Journaling might be for you if you like to communicate through a creative outlet, are a visual learner, and/or looking for a therapeutic way to reflect on God’s Word. If you decide you want to give this method a try, you are not limited to pencil and pen ink. There are plenty of other options! Crayons, markers, paint, stickers, tape, collage, you name it! Any and all are acceptable forms of Bible journaling. There is no right or wrong way to go about it.
Something to keep in mind when journaling is that this process is often spirit-led. Therefore, God might reveal a specific picture to you while you are reading a passage of Scripture. Allow him to lead your hand. A picture may not have as clear of a message as words, but if you listen, God will work through it. Just as He can paint a sunset to demonstrate the message of His love for us, so His Word can confront our hearts with an illustration just as visible and tangible. It might help to think of the art you create as a treasure hunt. The more you search the image, the more likely you will find God’s underlying messages.
One last thing to keep in mind is that the image you receive while Bible journaling might not be for you. If you feel as though it is meant for someone else, consider sharing your drawing with the people around you. It’s not about what you draw, but what the Lord does with it.
No matter the form your Bible journal ends up taking on, you will find the most successful entries arise when you tap into that artistic potential God has hidden within you.
