Creative Bible study can be a fun and different way of approaching Scripture which can open up God’s Word to us and help us to see it in a different light.
God’s Word is so exciting, but sometimes we can get in a rut with how we approach it, especially if we do things the same way all the time.
By mixing things up a bit, and putting some creativity into your Bible study, you may discover a fun and very relaxing way to spend time in God’s Word.
What is bible study?
Bible study is purely and simply studying and analysing the Bible.
Reading God’s Word, researching the meaning, truth, background and history in Scripture can be an enriching, and growing experience.
As Christians, we study the Bible, not just for the intellectual knowledge, but also to enhance and grow in our relationship with God, to learn more about Him, and to grow in our faith and Christian life and experience.
When it comes to creative Bible study the purpose is the same, but the methods can be different by adding some creativity, color and fun to enhance our experience.
Why can it feel like a chore?
There are times in our lives when our faith and our Bible study is exciting, and we are growing and learning and feeling so close to God.
But, it’s not always that way. There are other times when thinking about reading our Bible can feel like a chore, something we know we should do, but we don’t feel like it.
Often, particularly for those of us who have been Christians for a while, unfortunately our Bible study and Quiet Time can easily become dry, and dare I say it, boring.
David expressed it well in Psalm 63:1 where he said, “God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.”
We all go through these dry and challenging times where we long to find that joy and anticipation in approaching God’s Word, as we have done before.
Whether we are experiencing dry times, or we just want to mix things up and try something different, adding some creativity to our Bible study can be an enriching experience.
Creative ways to study the bible
Bringing creativity into our Bible study times can be fun and it can help to shake things up for us when things are dry.
It can add another dimension to our study and help us to engage in a different way with Scripture, and with God.
Some creative ways to study the Bible are:
Listening to Scripture
There are many benefits to listening to Scripture and it’s a great medium to use if you want to get an overview of the Bible, you can choose to listen on the go, listen as you go to sleep, or listen and read at the same time to maximise the impact.
When you listen and read at the same time it maximises your ability to learn and absorb as you are engaging more of your senses. Listening to Scripture can be very relaxing and listening to Scripture as you go to sleep may help you to not only sleep better but to allow God’s Word to soak into your subconscious as you sleep. It’s also a way of maximising your time, you can listen to God’s Word while you’re driving or cooking or on your morning walk.
Bible Journaling
Bible Journaling is where you write your thoughts, lessons learned, experiences and applications directly into your Bible. It is different from Scripture Journaling where you write into a separate journal, with Bible Journaling you record everything on the pages of your Bible.
You will need a special Bible Journaling Bible which provides spaces within the Scripture for you to write. You can decorate your Bible, using colors and stickers as you creatively reflect what God is showing you.
Draw Scripture
We are all created differently, with our unique gifts, talents, and styles. Some of us enjoy our creativity through words, while others express their creativity through visual arts. But you don’t have to be an artist to study the Bible through drawing. It’s all about connecting with God’s Word, meditating on it, and expressing your thoughts, feelings and emotion through creative art.
Using colors, shapes and forms, and images you can reflect your experience of God’s Word on paper. It will not only be a great reminder of what you have learned, but also the feelings and emotions attached to your experience of God’s Word.
Paint Scripture
Painting Scripture is another way of expressing what God is showing you through His Word. As you take the time to paint what you are thinking, seeing, and feeling, you have the opportunity to meditate and think deeply on what it is you have been reading.
Your painting can be big or small, it doesn’t have to be a masterpiece that hangs on the wall, but it could be. It’s all about connecting with God and His Word.
Color in Scripture
Again, this is one for the colored pencils. Coloring in is a very popular way of slowing down your pace and relaxing. Coloring in Scripture verses not only is relaxing but it creates a space where you can focus on God’s Word, on the verse you are coloring, and how that relates to you and your life.
If you would like to try Scripture coloring I have a heap of FREE bible verse coloring pages you can download and print out, check them out here!
Use Stickers
The use of stickers is also a fun way to study and mark up your Bible. They can be used on their own or you can use them along with Color Coding your Bible, Scripture Journaling and Bible Journaling.
Stickers can be used to highlight a verse or passage you want to draw your attention to. They can also be used in a similar way to color coding, by allocating a specific image or type of sticker to a theme you will be able to easily find references to those themes as you flick through your Bible and just look for those stickers that you have allocated to the topics.
They can also be used just for fun, to decorate your Bible, or to remind you of something you read that brought you joy.
Scripture Journaling
Scripture Journaling is not the same as Bible Journaling and it’s not the same as keeping a daily journal of the events of your life. It involves reading a passage of Scripture, writing out a verse, or words, that particularly stand out to you, writing out a truth that has meaning, writing any thoughts or questions you have about the passage and then writing out a prayer and application from what you have read.
Scripture Journaling is a great way to soak deeply in God’s Word. Check out my post How to Journal scripture to grow your faith to read more about this method and download your FREE Scripture journaling pages.
Write out Scripture
Choosing a passage of Scripture and writing it out is a great way to slow down and focus on what you are reading and writing.
With so much of our writing and our life revolving around computers we don’t really spend as much time handwriting any more. Instead of writing a card or a letter we send an email.
But there is a lot to be said about the act of writing, and in particular, writing out Scripture. It helps you to stay focussed on the words in front of you, it helps you to engage more as you think more deeply about them and engage your senses in the activity, the slower pace of it helps you to see things you may have otherwise overlooked, and it can create a space to allow you to internalize and learn more of what you are studying.
Color Coding Your Bible
Color coding your Bible is a great, fun way to engage with Scripture. You can use colored pencils, felt pens or highlighters to color your Bible.
Choose a topic, or a theme, or a person that you would like to follow in Scripture and allocate a color to it. As you come across verses that relate to whatever it is you have chosen to study you color in the verse in the allocated color.
The benefits of this are that it enables you to think more deeply about what you are reading, and also acts as a good resource later on, if you want to look something up or find something that you have previously read, you can go back and follow the color theme that you have created.
Color coding is a fun and practical way to enjoy Scripture. You can read my How to Color Code Your Bible blog post to learn more about this method.
As believers we want to get the most out of spending time in the Word.
Whether you are in a good space with God at the moment, or you are struggling, God loves you and He wants to spend time with you.
As you seek to spend time with God, He will meet you where you are.
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8
