If we are going to be successful at memorizing God’s Word, we must read passages over and over again. Repetition is the key to learning. This is something I have learned a lot about through my years as a teacher.

 

Pastor Robby Gallaty shared in his book, Growing Up, that he has a friend who memorized the entire book of Philippians. How? It’s his favorite book. He reads through Philippians every single week. He has been reading through Philippians once a week for twenty-six years! Talk about repetition!

 

Sometimes I think we can move too fast through scripture. It is rich with layers upon layers of truth. No matter how much we read or reread the Bible, there will always be more layers of depth, wisdom, and insight to uncover.

It’s okay to park on a passage of scripture for a while. I used to think that if I did not read the entire Bible through every single year that I was a failure. Now, I am not saying that is a bad thing to read through the Bible in a year. That’s actually totally AWESOME! But we can put too much pressure on ourselves as Christians. The Word is the Word! If we are reading the Word, any part of it, that’s great too!

 

Donald Whitney illustrates the effect of memorizing the Word with a cup of hot tea. Whitney explains, “You are the cup of hot water and the intake of Scripture is represented by the tea bag. Hearing God’s Word is like one dip of the tea bag into the cup. Some of the tea’s flavor is absorbed by the water, but not as much as would occur with a more thorough soaking of the bag.” He adds, “In the analogy, reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word are represented by additional plunges of the tea bag into the cup. The more frequently the tea enters the water, the more effect it has.”

excerpt from Growing Up, p.118

 

So what are some of the benefits of memorizing scripture? Pastor Robby writes, “Nothing will do more to help you gain victory over your spiritual enemies—the world, the flesh, and the devil—than faithfully practicing this discipline.”

 

“Whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither–whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:2-3

Wow! I want all those benefits! How about you?

 

 

Memorization Tip:

 

Hand Signals

An idea that helps me memorize scripture is to make up hand signals for the different phrases of a verse. I use this with strategy with my daughter Callie. It’s a fun game to her, but it also helps us both memorize scripture. 🙂