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Hello, hello friends!
This week I’m coming to you with a topic that I think is super exciting! It’s something that I always enjoy when the time comes around: choosing a journaling bible.
My Journaling Bible Experiences
There are a lot of options now for journaling bibles. They may not necessarily be intended for doing art in, but they sure work for the job!
I personally have a couple different styles of journaling bible that I will share with you. Hopefully my experiences can help you decide what is best for you.
The first bible I used for journaling in was the ESV Double Column Journaling Bible by Crossway (Above). At the time, when I was brand new to bible journaling, I liked the look of this bible. It was kinda short and squat and I liked that. After using this version for a while I realized that the double columns can be a little bit annoying at times. Sometimes the page with the scripture you want to journal about is already used. (Which happens in any bible, but I found that it happened more often in this version). That is why you’ll notice that this bible isn’t as stuffed as it probably could be.
When my first bible was finished I got the same ESV Journaling Bible by Crossway, but this time I got the Single Column version (Above). I liked this version a lot better. I felt like the single column allowed me to, more often that not, journal about the scripture that I was looking for. This one is a little taller than the double column version. Overall this bible was a similar experience to my first bible, but I was able to stuff it much fuller. (I will note that both ESV versions have cream colored pages. If you’re looking for white pages, I will talk about that later on.)
The Bible That Wasn’t The Right Fit
Time to move on to my third bible! I wanted to try something a lot different this time. So I purchased the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible by Crossway (Above). This bible has a completely blank page in between each page of scripture. Lots of room for art! This seemed like a really great idea when I purchased it. But I soon learned that it wasn’t for me. I started to get what I call “Page Anxiety.” The fully blank page was just too much for me. I started to notice that I didn’t want to journal, the thought of having to fill a whole page was too intimidating. So I decided that in order to get back into it I needed to get a new bible. I didn’t want to give up something I loved because I chose the wrong bible. I now use this bible for note taking, which it works great for!
After the interleaved version didn’t work out, I went back to a Crossway bible. But this time I got one with a leather like cover with leaves imprinted in it (Above). This one is just like my second single column bible, just with a different cover. It feels nice to be back in something more familiar.
Other Journaling Bible Options
These are the bibles that I have had experience with, but there are a lot of other choices.
If you like the idea of bible journaling but don’t consider yourself too artistic, or just want to ease into it, the NIV Beautiful Word Coloring Bible might be for you. This bible has already illustrated pages for you to color in, along with some blank margins for when you get brave enough to do your own! This bible has white pages.
Another option if you are looking for white pages is the NLT Reflections Bible. Leah talks about this version in a recent blog post, so if you want more information check out that blog here.
There are a lot of other options than the ones I listed here. There are fancy leather covered ones. Other versions with coloring book style pages. A search on Google or Amazon will give you loads of results.
Choosing Your Bible
Choosing a bible is a really personal thing. I can’t tell you which one to buy, you have to decide for yourself what you like. Think about the things that are important to you. Do you want white pages? Do you like single or double column? Coloring book style or interleaved? The choice is all yours!
I hope that this gives you an idea of what the different styles look like and what would work for you!
What kind of journaling bible do you use?
