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    20 BENEFITS OF MEMORIZING THE SCRIPTURES (IN ENGLISH)

    By DnA | July 9, 2010

    I was delighted to see that MTI had a regular class for memorizing scripture. In Christian schools where we have taught, there were times when parents complained about their sons and daughters having to memorize scriptures. “They have enough homework without having to memorize Bible verses,” they would tell us. So Arnelle and I began to meditate on the advantages of memorizing scripture, and we were surprised at how many there are – even academically. Recently I have revised and updated these 20 benefits of memorizing scripture in English for everyone to consider.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE IMPROVES VOCABULARY. Educational psychologists say that a “quick” test of I.Q. is just to give a vocabulary test. For missionaries studying ESL, it specifically increases the vocabulary of fellowship on the mission field, since all missionaries will frequently quote God’s Word as a guide to their decisions and actions.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE IMPROVES READING. Complex and compound sentence structures in some scriptures help prepare a student for more difficult reading levels. A sufficient familiarity and ease with the use of these patterns cannot be gained just in hearing or in reading the scripture, but the constant rehearsal necessary to memorize the scripture firmly implants the linguistic patterns in the student’s mind.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE IMPROVES WRITING. The same excellent structure which improves reading, when thoroughly memorized, automatically becomes part of the writing process. Some of the great musical composers prepared themselves by copying note for note the manuscripts of the great masters until they had committed them to memory. For similar reasons, teachers in secular schools have for hundreds of years required children to memorize great poetry, famous speeches or other passages of great literature including the Bible.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE IMPROVES LOGIC. The logic in the Bible, for example in the writings of Paul, is impeccable. Fuzzy thinking is a characteristic of childhood, and the thought “tracks” laid down in these early years are difficult to change later. A firm foundation of logical thought, thoroughly memorized even though imperfectly understood, provides the basis for later excellence in such skills as mathematics or debate, as well as proving invaluable in the sciences. We are commanded to study to show ourselves approved unto God, workmen that don’t need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE PROVIDES A BASIS FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION. Western laws, history, literature, and culture cannot be understood without understanding the influence of the scriptures and the motivational impact they had on the founding fathers of the United States who ordered their lives and their new nation by them. You cannot understand roots of Western civilization if you cannot recognize the innumerable references made to scripture in both literature and law. Secular professors have admitted that a person in western culture cannot be fully literate without a knowledge of the Bible. It is required study in many, many state university literature courses.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE ESTABLISHES A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYZATION AND EVALUATION OF ALL OTHER PHILOSOPHIES AND RELIGIONS. Many non-Christian philosophies are coherent and consistent within themselves. It is only when they are measured against God’s immutable truth that it can be clearly seen that their underlying presuppositions are not valid, and thus the whole structure falls because of a crumbling foundation. It is rather like having done a long and difficult math problem without one single error except for having copied it down wrong in the first place. The Biblical view of the nature of man, the nature of the universe and the nature of God gives a standard against which all other philosophies may be measured.

     

    1. THE MEMORY ITSELF IS GREATLY IMPROVED BY CONSTANT USE. Ease in memorization gives a giant advantage to those who have it over those who don’t in academic pursuits. Whether memorizing math facts and formulas, historical names and dates, scientific definitions, authors, titles, publishers and passages from literature, music for marching band or lines for the school play, memory – a well developed, facile memory – is a very important part of academic success.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE IN THE KING JAMES VERSION GIVES A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF OLD ENGLISH AND AUTHORS LIKE SHAKESPEARE. Most students don’t know a “thee” from a “thou” or when to use “pray,” “prayest” or “prayeth.” Shakespeare knew, and students of the KJV Bible have a good feel for it (if not a detailed knowledge), too.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE (KJV) IS A GOOD START ON UNDERSTANDING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE – ESPECIALLY GERMAN. English doesn’t conjugate its verbs as much as other western languages, but there are more conjugations in the KJV than are in common use today. The “…est” and “…eth” endings in the KJV, for example, are directly related to the German conjugations. Facility in King James English translates easily into facility in conjugating other languages.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE BRINGS A SOUND MIND. His Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. He teaches the student to study. He opens each mind to His truths. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a sound mind. This quiet confidence gives an edge in academic challenges.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE BEGINS TO CHANGE OUR STYLE OF COMMUNICATION. God’s way of communicating in human language does not roll out like typical human language. God is perfectly forthright in His expression. Unlike us, He does not have a self-preservative tendency when He speaks. He is fully confident that what He says is true and will lead to the accomplishment of whatever He plans. We can begin to learn by repetition how God phrases His statements. And we can become imitators of Him just as young children try to sound like their parents when they speak.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE MAKES SHARING OUR FAITH EASIER. As we increase our “God vocabulary,” we become more comfortable, and our facility for sharing with others becomes more natural. It is also His Word which is alive and powerful, not our own thoughts.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE HELPS TO KEEP US FROM SIN. The Psalmist David wrote, “Your Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You.” The Holy
      Spirit speaks to us warning us away from sin, guarding our hearts. But we should remember that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Only He can wield it, but we need to keep it polished up and ready. When Jesus resisted Satan in the New Testament, He quoted scripture to him. We are not better than our Lord.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE TEACHES US TO PRAISE. David says again, “I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules.” David is saying that just knowing God’s ways will bring forth praise from our hearts. Many of us have also benefited from memorizing the praise psalms that were written by David. Indeed, we are instructed that we enter into God’s gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. So praise is also key to our prayer lives.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE HELPS US TO PREACH THE WORD OF FAITH. Paul says in Romans, “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart; that is, the word of faith, which we preach.” Jesus spoke with authority, not as the scribes, the scripture tells us. Should we not memorize these words of authority spoken by the One to whom is given all authority? Should not the words of Jesus, words which are life, be so precious to us that we want them in our hearts and with us at all times?

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE GIVES US THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING ABLE TO MEDITATE ON SCRIPTURE AT ANY TIME. David says he meditates on God’s Word both day and night. He loved God’s ways. He says in Psalm 119, “I will meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways.”

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE BRINGS BOTH A REVERENCE AND A HUMILITY IN REFERENCE TO THE WORD OF GOD. It takes time and effort to memorize scripture. In putting forth this effort and sacrificing this time, we acknowledge that the Word of God is important, that His Words are more perfect than our words, that we need to submit ourselves to the light of His Word and let it search our hearts to see if there is some wicked way in us. We do not memorize trivial writing like advertisements; we memorize great writing with eternal truth, beauty and power. We place the Word of God in this correct category when we take the time to memorize it. We hallow it, and I believe we please God in doing that.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE SETS AN EXAMPLE FOR THOSE WHO LOOK UP TO US. Obviously Jesus, Who is our example in all things, memorized scriptures. He quoted and explained the scriptures throughout His ministry, and He used scriptures to defeat temptation. Frequently parents, teachers, preachers, missionaries and other adults encourage children to memorize scriptures. This is an excellent policy. But too often those adults do not have a regular scripture memory plan for their own lives. The Bible makes it clear that when disciples are fully taught, they will become like their teachers, not like their assignments. We need to be faithful guides, not the blind leading the blind.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE IS A WAY OF HONORING GOD BEFORE THE WORLD. God’s chosen people would bind the scriptures to their heads as well as to their doorposts to show the world that God’s Word held a place of preeminence in their lives. Memorizing portions of scripture shows the world that we want these words to be an important part of our everyday living, that we want them with us – in us – in all of our daily decisions and actions.

     

    1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE BRINGS US GREAT PEACE. The Bible says, “Great peace have those that love your law, and nothing shall offend them.” David also speaks of the delight he finds in God’s commandments, as well as the hope and comfort there.

     

    Twenty reasons to memorize scripture. God probably has twenty thousand. He didn’t just speak or write the Word, He IS the Word. The greatest benefit of all in memorizing scripture is the intimate fellowship that it gives us with our Father.

     

     

    Topics: Teach! |

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