I first want to start by repenting if I was ever a person who complained about another Christian’s journey and relationship with the Bible. I was in a situation recently where I was getting a ton of flack for constantly reading my Bible and even more so for using my color code system and highlighting in it. I know some people refuse to write or mark in their Bibles and see it as disrespectful. But I have never been one of those people, and I have yet to come across scripture that tells me I cannot do it. I have come across plenty of scripture that tells me to meditate on God’s Word, to make it known and to not only hear but to be doers of the Word of God. In my opinion, I cannot do any of that if I don’t spend time reading it, studying it, and just overall enjoying it. How I choose to do that is by color-coding certain things, highlighting, and underlining. It’s what has kept me consistently in God’s Word, and I don’t see that changing for me. And I definitely won’t be changing it for other people. Especially for people who don’t even open their Bibles themselves.
I’ve noticed that the people who typically complain about me reading the Bible, me color coding in my Bible, and me writing in my Bible tend to do so with a wistfulness in their voice. Almost like they are envious that I’m doing it and they aren’t. Here is a secret: you could do it too. God cares that I’m in His Word. Not what I’m doing in it. I would think He would appreciate me doing whatever faithfully keeps me reading and knowing His Word compared to me being fearful and not being in His Word at all. I’m not better than you for doing it this way. I’m not better than you at all. Let’s stop judging others for how they choose to walk out their relationship with God and prayerfully thank God that He has another soldier on earth.
*I use to share things that stuck out to me from my daily reading on my social media accounts. Here is the blurb I use to include:
Why do I share? To show you that it is quite simple to jump in and open your Bible and read and study it for yourself.
💙 Look for what the passage says about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit
💜 Look for what the passage says about God’s Word
💖 Look for any prayers
💛 Look for what the passage says that you should be applying to your life
💚 Look for what the passage says about your identity in Christ or as a child of God
