Bible Journaling Tutorial: Matthew 16:24-25

In this Bible journaling tutorial, we’ll talk about the meaning of Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24-25, and I’ll show you how to use acrylic paint, ink spritzer, and gel pens to create a beautiful green and pink “True Vine” themed Bible journaling page.

Bible journaling tutorial on Matthew 16:24-25

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So, last week, I showed you how to apply gesso to your Bible page, in preparation for wet media like paint and ink.

And this week, I have a new video tutorial for you! I decided to Bible journal on Matthew 16:24-25, which has been speaking volumes to me lately. God has really been prodding me to live more for HIM, so I felt the need to study this statement by Jesus more in detail.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.
Matthew 16:24-25 (NIV)

It’s kind of a tough pill to swallow, though, isn’t it? To deny yourself, take up your cross, lose your life for Jesus? This is serious disciple stuff.

But, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says that ALL Scripture is God-breathed, and useful for spiritual instruction. From that, we know that we need to pay attention to the WHOLE BIBLE, and not just the easy parts. So, let’s dive into this passage together, shall we?

With some study, prayer, and bit of paint and creativity, we can begin to apply Jesus’ teaching to our lives.

Bible journaling example - Matthew 16:24-25

What does it really mean to be a disciple of Christ?

Before I started journaling, I did a verse map on Matthew 16:24-25, which you’ll see in the video. And after looking up definitions of key words, different Bible translations, and praying about it, I arrived at this list of points…

To Be Jesus’ Disciple is To:

  • Be willing to suffer for the purpose of spreading the Good News.
  • Leave sin/selfish desires behind.
  • Weather the storms of life with patience, humility, and love.
  • Respond in love, to those people who make our lives difficult.
  • Don’t let our troubles make us bitter, but instead choose joy, gratitude, and so forth.
  • Always show kindness, even when we don’t feel like it.
  • Go above and beyond to help others.

And the final point: LIFE is found in loving like Jesus. Boom.

In other words, I think part of what Jesus was getting at in verse 25, is that when we follow his example of love, that’s when we will find true abundance of LIFE. If we chase after the world’s ways, we lose out on the best of what God has for us. We will get to the end of our earthly life, and discover we have nothing. But when we follow Jesus’ example, we find real LIFE worth living…both here on earth, and in our future eternal life with God.

Bible Journaling Tutorial: Paint & Ink Spritzer on Matthew 16:24-25

So, of course I wanted to record these insights in my journaling Bible, to remember and refer back to again and again. Follow along with me in this video Bible journaling tutorial. I hope it inspires you to do something similar in your own journaling Bible!

SUPPLIES:

Bible journal page - what it means to be Jesus' disciple

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

To create your own Matthew 16:24-25 Bible journaling page, here are the steps… Remember, you can always use these Bible journaling techniques in different ways, with different colors, or different wording. Just because I did it a certain way, doesn’t mean you have to. Your Bible journaling is as unique as YOU and YOUR JOURNEY with JESUS.

  1. First, use scissors or an X-Acto knife to cut out a cross from an index card or some cardstock paper. Then, adhere your cross cutout to the page with the removable scrapbooking tape.
  2. Start painting your base color (I used Apple Barrel “meadow green” for this step). You can use whatever you feel comfortable with to apply, either a paint card or brush. Paint smoothly all over the page, taking care when painting around your cross.
  3. Bring in the stencil and spouncer, and apply it in the margin with the color of your choice (I used FolkArt “bright green” here). Hold the stencil to the page, and “pounce” the paint onto it. (When you’re done with this step, you can use soap and water to clean the stencil and spouncer).
  4. Next, take your ink spritzer and load up the marker of your choosing. Test the spray on a piece of scrap paper as needed, and then spritz as desired.
  5. Remove your cross from the page, taking care to remove any tape left behind. Then, you can use the outline from your cross cutout to spritz a different color marker onto the cross shape.
  6. If desired, use a glitter gel pen (or some other type of pen) to outline the cross, and also verses 24-25.
  7. Use a banner stamp, or draw a banner from scratch if you wish (or none at all). Depending on how your stamped image turns out, you can always go back over it with a marker like the Tombow Twintones, to made it stand out more.
  8. Start writing in the “To Be Jesus’ Disciple Is To:” points in the margin, with the black Pigma Micron pen. You’re welcome to take mine word-for-word, or do your own study or verse map…just ask God what He wants to show you about being a disciple of Christ.
  9. If you like, use a white paint pen to embellish your page.
  10. Finally, you can use a Tombow Twintone or similar pen to underline whichever parts of verses 24-25 you’d like to emphasize.

Bible journaling with paint and ink spritzer

I hope your enjoyed this Bible journaling tutorial on Matthew 16:24-25! Remember, the whole point of journaling is to increase your knowledge of God’s Word, and grow in relationship with Him. How you do that—which supplies or techniques you use—is much less important than just that you DO IT.

New to Bible journaling? You might also enjoy these posts: 5 Ways to Start Bible Journaling, and 12 Ideas to Write in Your Journaling Bible.

2 thoughts on “Bible Journaling Tutorial: Matthew 16:24-25”

    1. Barbara Austin

      Thanks Ginger! Bible art journaling has been so helpful to me in bringing the Scriptures to life, and I’m glad to share that so others can try it too.

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