Memorizing Scripture

Did you grow up in a church where scripture memorization was emphasized? Maybe you went to VBS or some other such program where memorizing scripture was regarded as an important part of Christian formation.  There are some scriptures I can recite because they were a part of my early formation as a believer. However, I have, in my adult years, come to better understand the benefit of memorizing God’s Word and started to the practice of memorizing it. Here are a few reasons why I believe it is important (in no particular order):

God says we should: Deut 6:6-8; 11:18-20, Matt 4:4

The Word of God in our hearts helps us to live holy: Psalm 119:11

When the enemy attacks, we have the Word of God as a ready defense: Eph 6:11-17, Heb 4:12

When we speak to others, we can speak with the authority and truth of the Word: Prov 25:11

Knowing the Word helps us to live more like Christ: 1 Sam 3:21, 2 Tim 3:16&17

Our faith is deepened as we hide the Word in our hearts: Rom 10:17

We get to know God through His Word: Heb 1:1-2, Prov 8:17, Isa 44:24

And we could go on and on about further reasons to memorize scripture! But I will stop here and say that as we are seeking to draw people to Christ or minister to the hearts of believers, or in our place of employment, or interacting with the employee of the grocery store, it is beneficial to have the Word in your heart. God is able to flow through us so much more effectively if we have made His Word a priority in our lives. One way we can do this…memorizing it.

I encourage you to memorize scripture if you don’t already do so. You may start with looking up scriptures that pertain to current matters in your life, then may move over to memorizing scriptures about the character and nature of God, then you might flow over to scriptures about who God says you are, and then….well, by then you will be following the prompting of the Holy Spirit and memorizing whatever He leads you to. When we don’t have access to a Bible, if we’ve committed the Word to memory, we can be strengthened and encouraged by the living word of God at any given moment. That alone is a wonderful reason to memorize God’s words.