Thoughts on Journaling

I love to journal. Everything about it intrigues me. And my love for journaling has created a love for (you guessed it) journals. I am one that loves to go to Barnes and Nobles just to look at the journals, the one that will stop to look at the notebooks in the school supply section of the grocery store, and one that has a stash of around 5-10 notebooks or journals in my closet for future recordings. I have no idea when or where this zeal for journaling emerged; I can only remember that when I was really little my Mom found me in the diary aisle of our school supply store clutching a diary with a horse printed on the front (I don't know if it was the horse or the diary that infatuated me).

I write all this to say that a love for journaling combined with a love for God is a powerful combination. Every child of God has their own story, their own daily walk with God that longs to be recorded on a page that outlasts even their own life. What would we have without such recordings? The Bible? The journals and books of the great Christian men and women who have gone before us? 

Their stories encourage, convict, and inspire us only because they recorded it. Imagine if Matthew, Mark, Luke or John had failed to obey the Spirit's voice and inspiration and not written any of their accounts or personal experiences about the Jesus our Savior! Where would we be? What would we know?

It is so important to write down your thoughts, experiences, and learnings. If only for the purpose for you to be able to look back and remember God's faithfulness and grace in your own life, do it for that reason. It's truly important.

Awhile back I was reading the Rebelution Blog and found this great post on journaling. In this post was a quote from Don Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life which would be good to write in the front of your journal as a reminder of the importance of journaling to monument God's faithfulness:

 "As a Christian your journal is a place to record the works and ways of God in your life.

Your journal also can include an account of daily events, a diary of personal relationships, a notebook of insights into Scripture, and a list of prayer requests. It is where spontaneous devotional thoughts or lengthy theological musings can be preserved. Consider the words of the Maurice Roberts about journaling:

“The logic of this practice is inevitable once men have felt the urge to become moulded in heart and life to the pattern of Christ. No one will keep a record of his inward groans, fears, sins, experiences, providences and aspirations unless he is convinced of the value of the practice for his own spiritual progress.”

Josiah Pratt noted the value of a journal in self-examination:

“The practice of keeping a journal would promote vigilance. The lives of many are spent at a sort of hazard. They fall into certain religious habits: and are perhaps under no strong temptations. They are regular at church and sacrament, and in their families. They read the Bible and pray daily in secret. But here it ends. They know little of progress or decline of the inner man. They are Christians, therefore, of very low attainments. The workings of sin are not noticed, as they should be, and therefore grace is not sought against them: and the genial emotions of grace are not noticed, and therefore not fostered and cultivated. Now, a journal would have a tendency to raise the standard to such persons by exciting vigilance.”

Consider journaling, not only “for the purpose of godliness,” but also as a way to raise up “a monument of God’s faithfulness” in your life."

I would love to hear about your journals. Even though I do regularly keep a journal, sometimes I wonder how others keep (or layout) their journals. What kind of journal do you keep? Do you write everything as a prayer to God? Do you begin, "Dear Diary," or "Dear God," or neither? Do you have separate journals for different subjects like one for prayers and one for Bible study? Do you write daily happenings or spiritual thoughts? Do you have a favorite brand or style of journal you like?