The Value of Memorizing the Bible

This semester, one of our ladies Bible study groups has been reading a wonderful book about Bible memorization. Memorizing Scripture: The Basics, Blessings, and Benefits of Meditating on God’s Word is exactly what is sounds like: a guidebook to how and why we meditate on the Bible.

Memorizing is quickly falling out of favor in all areas of life. Spelling tests, multiplication facts, state capitals, things everyone had to memorize a generation ago are no longer required or even encouraged in some spheres. Why? Because we have phones, tablets, the Internet is available 24/7 with all the answers. When your math teacher told you to memorize the 12s times tables because you wouldn’t always have a calculator with you…that no longer applies. So why spend the time, effort, and brain space on things that we can look up faster than we could recall?

The case for Bible memory is stronger than any other subject because God’s Word is different than any other subject. It has the power to change us, help us, comfort us, guide us, convict us, and the list continues. While I still encourage my kids to memorize facts that others look up, my encouragement to memorize the Bible is far stronger because the Bible isn’t man’s ideas, it’s from God.

My own road with memorizing is shaky. As a kid, my mom would record herself saying Bible verses on an endless cassette tape {if you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask Google}. As I played or colored, I would listen and absorb those verses. It was multitasking in the 1990s. As I got older, I would read verses to myself on repeat, look away, and try to say it as fast as possible before it slipped away. In high school and college, it was required to write out our memory verses for tests and quizzes and I learned that writing something memorized is not the same as repeating it.

As an adult, memorizing became less of an emphasis in my life. I read the Bible and studied it, but not to the point of being able to quote a passage I was going through. It was now readily available on my phone! I could search for a phrase and get a whole list of verses! Surely we had arrived!

But after becoming a parent and going over verses with my kids on repeat{we no longer have endless tapes}, I became more and more convicted about my previous lack of conviction about Bible memory. I started finding a verse in my daily Bible reading and repeating it over and over throughout the day, trying to seal it in.

When Glenna Marshall, an author and pastor’s wife, posted that she had written a book on memorizing, I preordered it. And when our Bible study decided to read it together, I volunteered to lead the study and write discussion questions. It’s been a true blessing to learn about this topic, encourage each other in our personal memorization habits, and discover why this is a crucial part of the Christian life.

I don’t want to give away Marshall’s points because I want you to purchase the book and read them yourself {wink, wink}. But I will say Bible memory is not as daunting as I believed it to be. She breaks down every excuse for why you haven’t been memorizing and offers so many helpful tips to get you started. She also goes through biblical principles of why Bible memory helps us in various times.

I am currently memorizing Psalm 107. Unlike previous attempts at remembering a jumble of words to repeat as quickly as possible, I’m letting the words soak in and make sense. I’m connecting the thoughts and allowing the truth to grow my love for Who God is.

Bible memorization is for all Christians. Your age, time constraints, stage of life, profession mean nothing. God’s Word is profitable for all people to know, love, and hide in their hearts.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out

Psalms for Rest

I usually don’t feel anxious. I often don’t realize I’m worried or struggling with something until it suddenly occurs to me that I’m not sleeping, I’m constantly thinking about the same thing, I have a headache, I feel irritable.

Anxiety has a way of sneaking in and getting comfortable in our lives, slowly retraining our minds and attitudes until it seems normal. We don’t remember NOT feeling nervous and worried. We don’t believe we can get out of it.

That’s one of the reasons I love the Psalms. So many of them calm my fears and point me to the truth of God’s character. Instead of dwelling on my worries, I can recite Scripture or sometimes sing it. If you are anxious about the future or overwhelmed in current circumstances, please read and dwell on the following Psalms. I know they will bring comfort and peace.

Psalm 4:8 In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 40:1-2 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.

Psalm 62:5-8 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. 6He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. 7On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Psalm 119: 147-149 I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words. 148My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise. 149Hear my voice according to your steadfast love; O Lord, according to your justice give me life.

Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 136 is a reminder of all God did in Israel’s past and that “his steadfast love endures forever.”

This is just a small sampling. There are so many other Psalms I could have included but had to limit for space. Open your Bible today and seek him. Rest in all he has done and is doing and will do. Great is our Lord!!

Photo by Kien Do on Unsplash

New Bible Verse Printable!

Last year, as we were going into the schoolyear, I made a collection of cards with Bible verses that could easily be printed off and left around the house, schoolroom, or whatever you wanted. My aim was to encourage all the mamas out there and give you a resource for memorizing a Bible verse a week with your kids, whatever education choice you made.

This year, I wanted to do it again with a few changes. I’m really excited to share this new printable with you! A few things different from last year:

• I found these amazing printable index-sized cards at Walmart. I thought they were a perfect option for our weekly Bible verse cards! They are perforated which makes it so easy and fast; just print and fold and you’re done!

• The cards this year are larger — I put four verses on each sheet opposed to the six last year. I did this so they would fit the printable index cards mentioned above and so I could make the font larger.

• Extra room to doodle! It’s a proven fact that copying, highlighting, underlining, etc. all help in memorization. These cards have more room and larger font for kids to trace the words, copy on the back, draw symbols, or whatever they want to lock these Bible truths in their hearts. Print a set for each child and let them underline new words or put stickers on the corners.

• If you print these on index cards, they are thicker and an easy size to hold. Of course, you can print these on regular paper, cut them out, and glue them to fancy cardstock as well.

• This summer, I felt a pull to focus on Bible verses that have to do with our personal character. We’ve memorized verses about God helping us, salvation, peace, etc. But the Bible has a lot to say about how we should act…and shouldn’t! Many of the verses I chose this year are reminders of how we are to treat others, listening, confessing our sins, and the benefits of obeying God.

I hope these are a help and blessing to you! Many of you commented to me that you had printed off the verses last year and enjoyed them. Please print off as many as you want and share the link to this post with friends. I’m praying this school year brings joy, growth, and a love for our God and the children we’ve been entrusted with.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Bible Truth for School + a Printable

I think we can all agree that this school year is going to be crazy.

No matter what choice we made for our kids, there are going to be challenges and adjustments. And even if we aren’t doing anything radically different, the world around us is a completely different place. Wearing masks, not going certain places, not being able to visit friends or family. Depending on where you live, it might feel like what was normal last fall will never return.

I’ve been struggling with keeping a positive attitude. I’m usually an optimistic person and I genuinely try to not let things get me down. But there are some aspects of 2020-21 that I am not looking forward to. And I’m not excited about explaining things to my kids or dealing with their frustrations.

This summer as I prepared for our school year and planned curriculum, there were moments when I wondered if my efforts would even matter. Will we be able to do the fun things I’ve researched? Will field trips be a possibility? How can I get my kids excited for things without risking having to cancel our plans and disappoint them?

There’s always a measure of unknown about the future but this year feels completely uncertain. Thankfully, we are not alone. And the One Who is with us is Sovereign over all. This summer as I’ve prepared curriculum and spreadsheets and my lesson planner, I’ve also been praying and meditating on Bible verses a lot. When the wisdom of this world is complete foolishness and I’m at the end of my mental and emotional rope, I can always rest in the truth found in the Bible.

The Bible never grows old or outdated. The truth that comforted David as he ran from Saul can comfort me in 2020. The grace Paul wrote of is available to me now. The wisdom Solomon gave his son thousands of years ago is relevant for us to pass on to our children. And God Who inspired and directed its words is still in control of the world He created.

So as I approached this unprecedented 2020-21 school year, I wanted to make sure I was filling myself with God’s words and not the discourse of today’s news. The Bible is brimming with encouraging verses that we often forget.

To help myself — and hopefully you — I’ve created a very simple printable of 47 verses. My hope is that we print off and cut out these small cards, put them in the schoolroom, in our planners, on our bathroom mirrors, in our kitchen windows, and recite these promises to ourselves and our kids.

I made them simple because 1) I’m not a graphic designer, 2) I know not everyone has a color printer, 3) I wanted the Bible verse to take full attention. If you want to color, draw, glue on scrapbook paper, make it pretty, go for it!! Print it and make it yours. Read a new verse everyday then circle back to review throughout the year. Or mediate on the same verse for a whole week.

Just click the button below and a PDF should open for printing.

Photo from Jeffrey Hamilton on Unsplash