The scribes have been handwriting the Word of God for thousands of years. I can just imagine what it must have been like to carefully write out the words as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. So, with all the hard copies and digital versions of the Bible available today, why should we handwrite the Bible ourselves?

Have you given any thought as to the benefits of writing out the Scriptures?

It isn’t to gain another personally written Bible but rather to meet God in your writing.

Why Handwrite the Bible?

Writing out the Scriptures is a great way to take your time as you savour each word, each sentence, each paragraph. You will notice details that might otherwise be skipped over when reading quickly.

You may dive deep in your personal Bible Study or in a group study but when you take the challenge of writing out the Word of God, something else will happen. You’ll find yourself having a conversation with God about what you are reading, and, God will respond to you!

Copying the text carefully means you are taking your time, giving time to think about what you are reading and writing. This also helps you to remember what you’ve read and when you add some side research, like looking up cross-references, your understanding will become more clear.

So, in addition to improving your memory skills of what the text is about, it can also help you with memorization of particular verses. Most of us have memorized John 3:16 but do we know what the surrounding verses are about? When you handwrite the Bible, you will also see the context of the book as well.

When we handwrite the Bible, we develop an excellent spiritual discipline. Did you know that in Deuteronomy 17:18-20 that God commanded the kings to write out their own copy of the Scriptures? This was so they would know the commands and they would learn to honour and obey God all the days of their lives.

And there’s another benefit that comes from handwriting the Bible. You can read all about it in this post, Praise & Worship: An Unexpected Result of Bible Writing. You’ll be pleasantly surprised!

The Kings of Israel would Handwrite the Law

Let’s look at that verse.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:

¹⁹ And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:

²⁰ That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

If God instructed the kings of Israel to write out the Scriptures, it begs to ask the question, is it still important for believers today to handwrite the Bible? Would we benefit from it as the kings of Israel did? I think so, do you?

The Challenge

I would love to challenge you in developing this spiritual discipline to handwrite the Bible. We have 5- and 10-Day Bible Book Writing Challenges that can be completed anytime you want.

However, in the Deeper in God Bible Studies group over on Facebook, we will be starting our next writing challenge that you just may want to participate in! Or you can use any of our past Writing Plans as well at a time convenient for you.

We have Whole Bible Book Writing Challenges approximately every six weeks or so. All current and past Writing Challenges are stored in the Private Library that you can access through the online Bible study group, see below.

Are you interested? Will you challenge yourself in our next Bible Book Writing Challenge?

Join us in the Deeper in God Bible Studies group. Click the image below to join. I look forward to seeing you in the group.

Do you currently challenge yourself to handwrite the Scriptures? If so, how are you enjoying it? Do you find yourself meditating on the Word more so than before? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment for me.

Related Posts:

• Challenge Yourself to Write Out the Book of Colossians
• Praise & Worship: An Unexpected Result of Bible Writing

If a study group environment doesn’t suit you, there’s always the 215 Ministry Updates option.

Are you wondering what the Small Chunks Bible Reading Plan is about? This post, How a Simple Bible Reading Plan Can Get You in the Word Everyday, will tell you all about it.