1 Timothy 4:7b-8
“…Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

So, I guess I’ll leave my Wages Due topic for a while to teach on a topic dear to my heart – Scripture Memory.

Truly, God’s Word is powerful in a way no other word is. It truly is living and active and we should be storing it in our hearts that we would not sin against our Heavenly Father.

Over the years, I have used many different methods to memorize scripture with my children. My kids and I have primarily memorized whole chapters (or almost whole chapters), including Matthew 7, Psalm 139, Ephesians 6, Titus 2 and Colossians 3.

Additionally, our children have been involved in the AWANA ministry off and on since our oldest daughter, Emily, was a 3 year old little Cubbie. In fact, the first verses I memorized intentionally would have been with her. I can still remember A is for All – all have sinned and C is for Christ – Christ died for us, because of AWANA Cubbies.

But, as a woman, I have struggled to maintain a personal commitment to scripture memory on my own apart from my children. This is where Sweet Journey by Teri Maxwell really helped me to see my own need to memorize for myself.

Then, my sister told me about a great website and iPhone app called Scripture Typer which has really, really blessed me. I have entered there many new verses to learn as well as many old ones I have memorized before so I can keep them fresh in my mind. Without consistent review, I do forget that stored up word. Yet, it is still in there and either way I am still so thankful for the verses I studied even 10 years ago because God truly does bring them to my mind when I need them.

This brings me to today. My younger daughter Noelle has been memorizing character trait definitions along with accompanying Bible verses with her class at church. The 1 Timothy 4 verse at the top is what she is to recite at church this Sunday morning. As we have been reviewing it together, I see all the more the need for discipline in my everyday life, including scripture memory.

I am teaching Sunday School right now and leading the students in a study of Psalm 139 including its memorization. When Noelle was not yet 5 years old, she (along with her older brother and sister) had memorized it and recited it at church. Here’s a link to the video. I pray it would bless you. (By the way, Noelle still remembers much of it even though we have rarely reviewed it over the last 5 years). Be encouraged.

Psalm 139 recitation at church

What are you working on memorizing?
Have you found any helpful methods or programs you’d like to share?