Is It Okay to Write In Your Bible?

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Do you feel comfortable writing in your Bible?

Maybe you’re afraid that writing in your Bible is sacrilegious or somehow offends God because you’re desecrating His Word.

In the years that I have led Bible studies, I have had women ask me if it is okay to write in your Bible, and today I want to show you a method of Bible study that I use that has made my Bible a rich resource for me over and over again.

The Bible study method I am showing you today took me from simply reading my Bible to studying deeply.

Throughout this article, I will include pictures from my personal Bible to show you how I write in my Bible and why it makes reading so much more impactful and meaningful.

Is It Okay to Write In Your Bible?

Often, when we read the Bible, we only hit one layer of comprehension.

However, when we include writing, underlining, and marking the things that stand out to us, we hit a deeper layer of comprehension.

Deeper still, when we write why something stood out to us, a corresponding verse in another passage of the Bible, and a date that marks when this verse became life-changing for us.

Each time we open our Bibles to that page, we’re reminded of what God said, why He said it, and how it became real to us.

This is the beginning of learning to study the Bible.

Here’s how writing in my Bible helps me to study the Bible better

Let’s look at Proverbs 2 as an example.

I start out by reading the passage and marking important words – oftentimes they are prepositions that give a lot of meaning to the verse.

However, the meaning is often missed when we don’t pay close attention to their importance in the passage.

Let’s look at verse 1:

My son, if (What an important word! You can’t claim God’s promises without fulfilling His commands!)

• You receive my words,
• And treasure my commands within you,
• So that you incline your ear to wisdom,
• And apply your heart to understanding;

Yes, if (That if again!)

• you cry out for discernment,
• And lift up your voice for understanding,

If

• You seek her as silver,
• And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then (and only then!!!)

• you will understand the fear of the Lord,
• And find the knowledge of God.

>>Because<<

• The Lord gives wisdom;
• From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;
• He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
• He guards the paths of justice,
• And preserves the way of His saints.
• Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

When

• wisdom enters your heart,
• And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,

>>>>Here’s what will happen!<<<<

• Discretion will preserve you;
• Understanding will keep you, To deliver you from the way of evil,
  • From the man who speaks perverse things,
  • From those who leave the paths of uprightness
  • To walk in the ways of darkness;  
  • Who rejoice in doing evil,
  • And delight in the perversity of the wicked; 
  • Whose ways are crooked,
  • And who are devious in their paths;
• To deliver you from the immoral woman,
  • From the seductress who flatters with her words, 
  • Who forsakes the companion of her youth,
  • And forgets the covenant of her God.
  • For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;
  • None who go to her return,
  • Nor do they regain the paths of life—
• So you may walk in the way of goodness,
• And keep to the paths of righteousness.

For

• the upright will dwell in the land,
• And the blameless will remain in it;
• But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
• And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

Do you see those lovely keywords and lists in this chapter? 

As I go through each chapter, I circle, underline, draw boxes, and squiggles around the keywords and phrases that stand out to me.

I pay attention to words that add extra meaning – such as the word “therefore”.

Each time I see “therefore”, I can hear my dad say, “Ask yourself, what is that therefore there for? Therefore, always points back to the previous thought.

Sometimes, you have to go back to a previous chapter to gain the full context of what you are reading, but this is responsible Bible study.

Afterward, I will often grab a notebook and outline the entire chapter I’ve read, and then write a summary in my own words.

Or, on a sticky note and stick it in my Bible so that each time I turn to that passage, those notes are right there for me to see.

Many of my notes include historical details, modern-day names of the countries listed in the passage, or a deeper understanding of the passage given by a trusted commentator.

This makes my Bible a rich resource for me each time I read it, because often when we read a passage and something stands out, or we gain insight through a commentary, or Bible study, we forget what we’ve learned.

Then, when we go back and re-read that same passage later on, we’re disappointed to realize that the insight we gained is now lost.

By writing in our Bibles, that insight is always right at our fingertips.

Do you see how writing in our Bibles actually makes our Bibles and Bible study more meaningful? I don’t think God is offended by this at all.

He wants us to comprehend His Word. He wants us to take joy and pleasure in His Word.

Do you write in your Bible?

Do you use color-coding, highlighting, or sticky notes in your Bible study?

If you would like more information on studying the Bible, you can check out all of my resources that I’ve made available on quiet times, reading, and studying the Bible.

I have many free resources, including free challenges for enriching your quiet time and reading the Bible effectively.

You can find all of those resources right here, and all of the Bible posts I’ve written on those topics at the buttons below.

More Quiet Time Resources: