Painting over the pages of text is an incredible commitment, a daring step — especially when that text is the word of God. So, is it a good idea to take artistic skill and scribble it across Scripture?

I have always been someone who learns as she does — someone who remembers things when it has a story, shape, and structure. And reading Scripture is no different. When I spend time reading my Bible, it’s important for me to scrawl out the message in a way that makes sense to me. And studies show I’m not alone in that.

Psychology Today says people learn material better when they make out a summary of what they’re reading or learning, and painting is an easy way to encapsulate what Scripture is saying, by summary and by illustrating what you’re seeing in the Scripture you’re reading.

It’s easy to get hesitant in marking the Word of God, but if it makes us better believers by being able to reflect and remember verses, then why not? I will say, the aesthetic of painting the pages of the Bible has less appeal when the person doing the painting is not necessarily prioritizing what is being said.

But either way, the point of reading the Bible is less about us and more about what God is saying to us through His Scripture. It’s more about talking with him while we thumb through his text. And if what helps us in prayer or in conversation with God is painting, then let’s glorify Him through painting pages as a way of making better sense of his timeless message.