Psalm 119:11 "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." If you are like me, having your children memorize scripture isn't at the very top of the list of things that need to get done today. It seems no matter what amazing intentions I have for the day, they often get replaced by whatever situation is currently screaming for my attention. Scripture memorization is hardly ever screaming for attention and therefore continually gets postponed.
However, I am resolved to memorize more scripture this year! Scripture memorization is so great in so many ways. Reading and memorizing scripture helps us to develop our character and it helps build character in children. It is a great habit to develop, and just imagine if this was a habit that you had developed at a young age, how much more scripture could recall today. When we teach our children to memorize Bible verses, we are also emphasizing the importance of God's Word. It is not just a book to read, but to apply and live. Finally, when we take the time to memorize scripture, we place verses in our heart and mind...these are verses that the Holy Spirit can use to help us during times of struggle or when ministering to others. If the verses were never there to begin with, it is much more difficult for you to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to the right verse.
How do you decide what verses to memorize? Well, to be honest there are lots of ways that we decide what verses we want our family to study. We have asked friends what verses they memorize and why? We have used the curriculum that the children are using at church and chosen to memorize verses that go with their lessons. We have taken verses from our family devotion books that we thought we wanted to emphasize a bit more. However, most of the verses that our family memorizes come from my personal devotion time. I have a notebook, and as I read or listen to messages and a verse strikes me as one that the family should memorize I simply jot it down. At this stage in our family I am most often looking for verses that deal with our behavior and how we should be treating others. For example: Proverbs 15:1 a gentle answer turns away wrath, but harsh words stir up anger. As they mature I will add more verses about the amazing love Christ has for us and how He guides us through this journey. For example: Genesis 50:20 you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good....
Memorizing can be challenging for many reasons. So we try many different strategies with memorizing God's Word: Repetition- taking the time to repeat the verse several times during the day for several days; Motions- we often make up motions to go along with the verse, this way we are using more senses to help us memorize; Write it- writing the verse down is also another great way to add a sense for memorizing, the more senses you use the faster and longer the memory will stay; Paraphrase- being able to memorize the scripture word for word is important, because God's Word is powerful, not mine. However, sometimes being able to but a verse in our own words helps us to completely understand how God is wanting to apply this verse to our life; Acronyms & Acrostics- these are great ways to remember longer verses especially, they can also be lots of fun to develop as a family. I am sure there are tons of other memorization strategies, these are just a few that we use.
With all the facts and phrases that our children memorize in school and learn each day, it is sometimes difficult to work on Bible verse memorization. Our family seems to go in spurts, memorizing several verses one season and only one or two the next. Let me encourage you to help your child memorize scriptures, no matter how many verses you choose to work on with your family. I know you will be happy you did!
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