Memorizing Scripture
Chris Cornett • December 3, 2020
In today’s digital age, we’re now exposed to more “expert” and personal opinion now than ever before. Sometimes we resonate with what we read, and sometimes we don’t. We can feel emotions of sadness, anger, discouragement or we emotions of joy, excitement, praise. Where do these come from? What lens are we reading some online content through?
I’ve been known to put my foot in my mouth a few times (okay, a lot of times). When I was 15 and accepted Jesus, I began what I called “preaching the Gospel” to my friends. What it really was was me judging them and telling them they were wrong. Was I wrong? Yes – and no. Sure – I saw sin in their own lives, but I wasn’t even acknowledging the sin in my own heart. Then my mentor shared with me the importance of memorizing scripture.
Memorizing scripture can be useful for so many things in life.
My biggest encouragement of why we do it is because the Bible is also references as Truth. When so many lies/opinions try to creep in, what’s the standard we hold to? Truth is something that can help us drown out self doubt, worry and anxiety and be reminded of the promises and love God has for us. When we use the Bible as a way to battle sin, God’s truth and love begins to penetrate your heart so that those negative thoughts/ideas can’t make it in. Here’s the verse that got me started with the desire to start memorizing it:
"Psalm 119:11 – I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
As a Christ follower, I want to serve and love Jesus with everything I am. With that desire comes a natural opposition from the enemy and my flesh to keep me from fully experiencing God’s abundant life. I’ve found myself over the years struggling with self worth, different sin and just an understanding of what the future holds. In those times, I’ve searched personally to find reason and sometimes found some short term success.
My best way of staying rooted is memorizing scripture.
I’ve found that once I have it memorized, in times of struggle/temptation, the verse tends to spew out and drown out my negative thoughts and replace them with the Father’s love.
You may have NEVER memorized Scripture or even thought about it. I want to share how I’ve been able to memorize scripture and then encourage you to start doing it – TODAY!
Pick a verse that has meaning.
Of course when I first started this journey, I wanted to memorize whatever was shortest. Jesus wept. Cool. Got it. Nothing wrong with that, but it didn’t do much to move me to Jesus. My first impactful memorization? Philippians 2:1-11. I have a pride issue. I have to continually remind myself who I serve and how he did it!
Write it down. And the write it down again. And the a 3rd time.
Post that thing on your desk, mirror, dashboard (not over the speedometer please), anywhere where you continually look. How about this – post it as your background on your phone. We look at our phones 5,000 times a dah (rounding down).
Share with someone what you are memorizing and get accountability.
If I take this memorization journey alone, it’s much less likely I’ll do it. If I have someone checking in on me and asking if I have my verse(s) memorized, I’m going to want to actually tell them yes. Most of the time those conversations are great because you have a teammate helping and you both get tot share how God is moving.
Start small.
Pick 1 verse. You don’t have to start with a chunk. You can do a topical search on the Bible app and find verses with a certain area. Even better, ask someone what they’re memorizing/have memorized in the past and why. Nothing wrong with getting a little help from your community.
Have a verse lined up to be memorized next. If you are trying to memorize a section, set a goal to memorize a verse/week. When you have more to look forward to, you are always growing your heart for the Word. Also – make sure to always revisit the verses you memorize and make sure you know them! Nothing wrong with brushing up!
There’s lots of resources out there. I started my early journey with a curriculum called Topical Memory System. It will give you a top and a couple verses to memorize in It. It begins with your identity in Christ and works through different topics. It can be found online.
There’s also an app called The Bible Memory App. This app allows you to pick a verse and memorize it by writing it, filling in blanks and sharing it with others. Highly recommend.
Growing closer to Jesus is what we all want. Having a foundation of truth and other weapons of the Word to fight against evil will help us do that. Reach out to us if you have any questions/need suggestions. You got this!!!
Chris Cornett
FCA
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