”I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.”
Psalm 119:11
The vast majority of Bible passages in my memory were inscribed there during my childhood. As we grew, my parents made sure that my brother, sister, and I were all regularly involved in memorizing God’s Word, and I’m so grateful that they did.
When I was young, my mind was like soft clay. After only minutes of repetition, Scripture was easily impressed upon my memory and retained for years to come. In the last few years, however, I’ve found that my gray matter has hardened considerably. Memorizing Scripture now requires a bit of hammering and chiseling. If I’d not begun hiding God’s Word away when I was child, my knowledge of Scripture at this point in my life would be quite deficient.
If you have little ones, can I encourage you to make the memorization of Scripture a normal part of your daily routine? If there’s one thing most children can do with ease, it’s to memorize information. And if there’s one thing they should be memorizing, it’s the Word of God. It alone has the power to transform their hearts and guide them in the paths of righteousness. Even though memorization may not be as easy for you as it is for your children, you’ll also be blessed as you continue saturating your own heart in the truths of Scripture.
My sister Niki is doing an amazing job of raising my niece Addison to know and love the Lord through His Word. It thrills my heart to see Addison’s knowledge of Scripture expanding at such a young age…
Take a few minutes each day to memorize Scripture with your children. I guarantee you; it will be time well spent!
Photo: abcdz2000
Awe, thanks. That is very sweet. We are so thankful that the Lord is allowing Addison to learn His Word at such a young age. We pray that it continues to transform her little heart!
I know that it will! =)
Addison has mad verbal skills for her age.
No doubt about it getting harder as we get older! Though I bet if we did it more, our memorization skills might return some. These days I spend a week learning five verses. But I can read Parker her AWANA verse one day and the next day she out of the blue repeats it back to me with no review or prompting.
She is quite the little talker; that’s for sure!
I’m sure you’re right that practicing more would help with my memory loss. I can’t believe how much my brain has changed since college; I think early rigor mortis is setting in to my brain tissue. =)
AWANA is a great program for helping kids with Scripture memory. I would imagine that Parker is a little pro.
So cute of Addison, way to go Niki! I read that you retain the most information, or you learn the best, before age 21. When you look at it that way, you can see why it’s so important to choose your child(ren)’s teachers carefully (not going to lie, I’m a huge supporter of homeschooling!). Just thinking about all that the world tries to impress upon our children through public education, television and the like during those formative years is sobering. That’s why Josiah and I have decided to train our children at home and why we have made Bible memory the very first subject that our little two year old Ti has learned. Ti talked very early for his age so we started teaching him Scripture immediately. He soaks it up like a sponge! People are always amazed that he can quote a whole passage of scripture, but I always tell them that Ti isn’t uniquely gifted. He’s just a young child with a very impressionable heart and mind, just like all the other children his age! I fear that too often adults assume that children can’t learn very much so young, but like you shared Missy, that’s when they learn the most! I’m so grateful to my parents, as well, for making Bible memory the cornerstone of my education at home. Because as an adult, I have to work MUCH harder to hide God’s word in my heart than I did as a child.
**Here’s a way we incorporate Scripture memory in our familiy. After we have chosen the passage we want Ti (and now his baby sister!) to memorize, I type it up on the computer using big font and have it laminated. We keep it on our kitchen table and at every meal we place the laminated passage in the middle of the table and take turns saying the verse we are learning. Ti thinks it’s such a fun game and enjoys pointing to the person when it’s their turn to recite the verse! The best part of all, since it’s laminated, is that if we happen to have a spill (which happens often with a two year old!), it easily wipes clean. After we have hidden the verses in our hearts and we’re ready to move onto the next set of verses, I three hole punch the page and store it in a binder. Then, when we want to review what we’ve learned, we flip through the binder and practice saying all the verses. This pattern has been a huge help in our being purposeful about learning God’s word. And we pray it is something that our children will take with them when they spread their wings one day.
Thanks for sharing your helpful ideas, Sarah! It’s great to hear that your family is making the study of God’s Word a priority.