If you’d like to know how to color-code your Bible, check out these Bible highlighting guides. You will learn something new every time if you allow the Holy Spirit to engage you in the Word of God!
Don’t worry; it’s not a sin to mark in your Bible, provided you do so with reverence! In fact, marking in your Bible can give you a newfound passion for your faith!
Highlighting your Bible can be quite rewarding, giving you many benefits! If you want to know which highlighters and supplies to use in your Bible, we’ll go through some suggestions.
As you learn many Bible color-coding ideas, be sure to consider your intent. Color code or highlight your Bible with a purpose in mind. Enjoy creating a new color-coding system in your Bible by having fun with it, understanding it’s a learning experience, not time for perfection!
Learn how to color-code your Bible by discovering 7 different ways to color code your Bible. You might even learn how to create your own color-coding system! It all depends on your level of confidence and creativity!
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The Benefits of Color Coding Your Bible
As you begin learning how to color-code your Bible, you might even wonder, why color code your Bible at all? Reviewing the main benefits of marking the Bible should answer this question!
1. Bible highlighting is fun!
When it comes to your faith, get passionate! You want to stay on fire for the Lord! You can easily do this with Bible highlighting, as adding color can be fun. There’s no reason not to have a good time when you’re studying the Bible!
2. Highlighting your Bible allows you to interact with God’s word.
Interacting and engaging in the Word of God is crucial when doing a Bible study or reading the Bible. Whenever you interact with any book, you are more likely to retain the information, and this is THE most important Book!
3. A highlighted Bible helps you understand the text better.
According to Mind Tools, taking simple notes or highlighting words and phrases increases your understanding and ability to retain the information. You’ll just learn more if you interact with the text. Really embrace the Bible as you read and study it!
4. Bible highlighting is a great way to enhance your Bible study time!
If you want to understand the Bible better, try incorporating Bible highlighting or note-taking. When you interact with the Word of God, you will further improve the important time you spend doing Bible study as the words come to life!
5. Highlighting your Bible helps you focus.
When you take the time to highlight your Bible, you don’t rush through the text. Rather, you are able to stop and focus on what you are reading. Highlighting helps you learn more as it improves your concentration and engagement!
6. A highlighted Bible just looks pretty!
I love the look of a highlighted Bible! If you’ve ever considered purchasing the Rainbow Study Bible, it’s a beautiful choice and certainly worth having! Personally, I enjoy doing the work as I learn more that way, but it’s all a matter of personal preference!
7. Highlighting your Bible gives you a sense of accomplishment.
You’ll be reminded of a victory when you look back over a section of text in the Bible that you have previously marked. It’s also a great way to remind yourself of something to review at a later date or something of importance that you want to reflect on later.
How to Color Code Your Bible
The key to knowing how to color-code your Bible is flexibility. There’s no right or wrong way to do it, so don’t expect perfection. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes just because it’s the Word of God. Be respectful, but know that God is glad you are engaging with His Word in any fashion!
1. A Simple Bible Highlighting Color Code
If you like to have flexibility and just want to interact with the text, you could highlight your Bible using any color of highlighter. It might not make the Bible well-organized in terms of a marking system, but it will still look beautiful and be engaging!
2. A Five-Color Bible Highlighting System
So, for a numbered system like this, I would recommend picking 5 colors that you want to use. The most obvious ones for highlighters are pink, blue, green, orange, and yellow. I would choose the topics you are most likely to highlight and make a system off that.
3. A Six-Color Bible Highlighting System
For a six-color Bible highlighting system, you would just add one more color to the mix to separate things out better. Usually, a highlighter set has a purple highlighter, so you could add that to the mix.
You could also use gray, maroon, or red. Just be careful with the darker colors, as they might make it hard to read the text. Test the colors out in the table of contents or another area not likely to be used in your Bible, as each Bible has a different thickness of pages.
4. Assigning Colors to Categories
When assigning colored highlighters to categories, you would just choose how you want to separate your Bible out. You might choose one color for Christian living and faith and another for praise and prayer. Another color could be used for key characters.
However you decide to assign colors, you will want to make a system that will stick with you and makes sense to you going forward. I like using purple for God or Jesus Christ because I view them as royalty. Yellow is perfect for things to remember.
5. Using Key Phrases or Concepts in Highlighting
As you can see in the Color-Code Bible PDF in this article, I like having one color assigned to “Application.” This can be tricky as almost anything can apply to your life in the Bible! Use your judgment when picking which color to use as the “application” color.
Other ideas for assigning colors to key phrases include Bible memory verses, marking instances when the Trinity (God, Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit) is mentioned, or designating times of praise and prayer. There are more examples listed in the PDF!
6. How to Color Code Bible Verses and Notes
If you have followed any of Jason Mayfield’s videos, you know that he likes to highlight his Bible in a certain way. He tends to use a color for a note that he writes in the margin. Then, so he knows which verse the note goes with, he highlights the verse in that color.
This is a smart way to understand the comments you make in the margins of your Bible. You’ll be able to look back at a passage of Scripture and see what you were saying, and the corresponding verses the note applies to. If you enjoy taking notes, use this system!
7. Marking Keywords and Phrases in the Bible
With an Inductive Study Bible, which is highly recommended and very enjoyable to use, you mark keywords or phrases in certain ways using colored pencils, pens, or highlighters. For this Bible, the keywords vary depending on the book of the Bible.
If you find this method to be engaging and are passionate about learning from the individual words in the Bible, you will have a lot of fun! I love engaging with the text as I study it, so I find this method to be very enjoyable and enlightening!!
How to Create Your Own Bible Color Code
Now that you understand several ways to highlight your Bible, it’s time to learn how to create your own colored Bible marking system with these steps!
Step 1: Assign your colors to concepts, keywords, or topics.
Now it’s your turn to assign colors to whatever helps you the most. These might be keywords, concepts, or certain topics. If you enjoy studying verses on money quite a bit, you might assign a color to that topic and go from there! Continue this practice until you’ve used all of your colors.
Step 2: Write down your new method and begin highlighting your Bible.
It’s a smart idea to write down your new color-coding system on paper or even type it up and use it as a bookmark in your Bible. You’ll want to do this so that you can keep track of everything and stay consistent!
Step 3: Have fun as you travel through the Bible with highlighters!
As you continue to use your own Bible color-coding system, have a good time with it! You might decide to change things once you get going, and that is okay! It’s YOUR system; you can do as you wish with it. Just keep your purpose in mind: to grow closer to God through Bible study!
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
Color Coding Your Bible Recommended Supplies
Use these recommended supplies when color-coding your Bible!
Recommended Highlighters
As you begin to use highlighters in your Bible, here are some options for you to pick from.
Zebra Mildliners
Zebra Mildliners are just unmatched when it comes to Bible highlighters. They have so many colors to choose from, and you can rest assured that the lighter colors will not bleed through. While the Zebra Mildliners can be a bit pricey, you could always choose a smaller set (5-pack) to try out to see if you like them before you invest in a full package.
Sharpie Highlighters
Sharpie Highlighters can do the trick, but you will likely see some bleed-through on your pages. They are preferred by some because of their price and convenience. Personally, I’ve used them from time to time because of their affordability and because they do not always bleed through. It will depend on the thickness of the pages of the Bible you are using.
Gel Highlighters
The Accu-Gel Bible Study Set is another popular choice, as these will not bleed through most Bible pages. They can be a bit messy from time to time and clump up if you let them get old.
All Highlighters
Whether a highlighter will bleed through depends on the thickness of the pages of your Bible. Why are Bible pages so thin? According to Cambridge University, the main reason Bible pages are so thin is to give you a compact book. Because it is such a long book, it’s just necessary!
Best Bible Pens
Depending on how much you plan to write in your Bible, you will want to have pens that won’t tear the pages of your Bible but will mark it effectively. Here are my best recommendations.
Pilot Frixion Erasable Bible Pens
Pilot Frixion Erasable Bible Pens are highly recommended, as they do not smear on the pages and are smooth. You can also erase any mistakes you make when writing in your Bible!
Sharpie Art Pens
Sharpie Art Pens are just great; I’ve never had them bleed through the pages of the Bible, and they are fun to write with! You can also use them to draw designs or outline notable paragraphs!
Pilot G-2 Pens (0.5mm)
Pilot G-2 Pens are my favorite, as they always write. However, they do press on the pages of the Bible a bit. These pens are great for a Bible with a little thicker pages!
Recommended Study Bibles
I must confess that my husband and I collect Bibles! We happen to love shopping for Bibles and getting a Bible ready for its first use. Having a new study Bible is an awesome experience! Here are a few study Bibles that I have and love!!
New Living Translations (NLT)
The Tyndale NLT Inspire Bible is perfect if you love a colorful Bible and enjoy Bible journaling. There are so many images that you can color in. I would recommend using colored pencils or twistable crayons. With its pretty design, this is the Bible that I get the most compliments on!
The NLT THRIVE Creative Journaling Bible is the main Bible I use for note-taking purposes, highlighting, and studying. I enjoy it immensely and would highly recommend it for journaling in your Bible or taking notes. It is a wide-margin Bible, so you have plenty of room to write!
Christian Standard Bibles (CSB)
The CSB She Reads the Truth Bible is a great devotional Bible. It will allow you to dig into the Word of God while you also interact with the text. Plus, it’s just a beautiful Bible to own! There is also a men’s version of this Bible!
The CSB Study Bible for Women is a fabulous study Bible when you are ready to study! The comments in the footnotes allow you to understand the Bible better. I use this Bible when I want to dig deep into a particular book of the Bible!
Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Seek Find: A Bible for All People (CEV) is my reading Bible. I love the contemporary English version when I really want to understand something quickly. This adorable compact Bible is a deal and has everything you need as a beginner Christian!
For more great recommended Bibles and other Bible resources, check out How to Build a Bible Library.
Resources for Color Coding Your Bible
Use these FREE Bible color-coding ideas to enhance your time with God!
Free Color-Code Bible PDF
Enjoy this FREE Color-Code Bible Key. The instructions for use are pretty simple. Just print the PDF, and using your highlighters, color each phrase the color you wish to use for that phrase in your Bible. This will ensure you have the right colors each time you highlight your Bible.
This color-free template is perfect if you want to know how to create your own Bible color-code system. You can just use the colors you wish for each topic. Feel free to use any of the colors suggested in this article if that makes things easier for you!
The following Bible color-coding chart will help you as you assign a color to each topic in the Bible. Feel free to white out the terms you won’t use or add a sticky note on top of them and write your own key phrases to be used when going through your Bible!
A Bible Color-Code Video
In this video, you will get access to another great free printable guide on how to mark annotations and highlight your Bible. She does a great job at showing you her process, too!
Conclusion
You’ve now learned how to color-code your Bible in many different ways, including your own! As you embrace this journey, be sure to keep your purpose in mind and always have fun!
If you’d like to learn about the many methods of studying your Bible, it’s recommended you start with the SOAP Bible study method. This method is simple and great for beginners!
Here’s wishing you the best of luck as you study your Bible with color! Make it pretty, have fun, don’t expect perfection, and grow closer to the Lord! May God bless you on your journey!!
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on It day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in It. Then you will be prosperous and successful. – Joshua 1:8 (NIV)
