Scripture writing and journaling

Graphic from Baptist Bible Hour

I've been thinking for awhile that I should do a short post about this topic.  All of last year -- in fact, from November 2015 on through the end of 2016 -- I did a different Scripture writing/journaling plan each month.  I highly recommend it!

Many might wonder how beneficial it is to simply write out a passage of Scripture each day.  It seems too easy.  You might think that it isn't enough, that you need to do in-depth Bible study, and (of course) that you will just put Bible study on hold until you can do it "perfectly".  I have certainly been there in feeling exactly that way,  and I would just like to share with you that I have found Scripture writing/journaling to be very beneficial indeed.

For one thing, simple though it sounds, Scripture writing gets you into the Bible every day.  Do you realize how many believers do not open their Bibles from Sunday to Sunday?  Even if, for example, they are reading in a daily devotional like Our Daily Bread or Days of Praise, they don't bother to open their Bibles and look up the related Scripture while doing so.

So writing out Scripture definitely ensures that you open your Bible.  And then it also ensures that you look closely at the Word of God.  If you are going to copy something down accurately, you need to look at it carefully.   In doing so, I invariably find something I never noticed before (even though I have read through the Bible numerous times), or I find that the wording of a particular verse was not what I remembered it to be.

There are several wonderful sites which feature Scripture writing/journaling plans.  Usually, they feature a different one each month.  Sometimes, our church bulletin at the beginning of a new month will feature a Scripture journaling plan.  Here are several that I have used:
Heidi St. John Scripture writing plans (like the one below).

Rachel Wojo

and

Shannon at Sweet Blessings (see example below).

 I simply use a composition notebook like this.

But of course you can use any notebook you like.  I stock up on these composition books when Wal*Mart has them for 50¢ on back-to-school sales.

Then you simply write each day's date and write out the Scripture for each day in your notebook.  I like to use pieces of washi tape to mark each day's verses, just to help keep them separated a bit.  I usually alternate colors of ink each day -- blue and black -- to differentiate it a bit more if I should want to go back and reread.

My friend Susan shared a wonderful post here: Building an Effective Scripture Journal, which is essentially writing out Scripture as well.  This zeroes in particularly on Scriptures concerning God Himself -- Who He is, His attributes, what He expects of us, and more.  Doing this project will literally change your life as you get to know God better and better.  I have one of these notebooks in progress, and I add a page to it each Sunday.

Writing out Scripture can even turn into a Bible study or meditation on the Word if one wants it to.  If the Scripture passages are brief, I will often use the SOAP method of Bible study to dig deeper into the verses.  Since this method begins with writing out the Scripture one is studying, it adapts itself perfectly to use with Scripture writing.

Both pictures show a notebook with a SOAP Bible reading schedule pasted in.

Maybe you would like to try one of the suggested Scripture writing plans.  Let me know if you try it, and what you think!