A practice that has been important for Christians through the centuries, but seems to get less attention today, is the practice of Scripture memorization. Turn back time a bit and we see that in the early centuries of the church, some overseers were required to memorize all 150 Psalms. It’s doubtful that many leaders in our churches today could do this. In the so called Dark Ages, monks gathered and recited massive amounts of Scripture each day. And I can’t prove it, but I bet that when an early church community got their hands on a scroll with one of the NT epistles, or the Gospels, I bet they read it over and over and over in their gatherings so many probably knew much of it by heart.
Today though, it seems this practice has fallen from our routine. I really think that memorizing scripture can have a profound impact on your life. I have memorized entire books of the Bible myself, and I think it’s time for me to start getting back into that. Fortunately, you DON’T need to start with entire books of the Bible. My team pulled together this wonderful video that gives you 5 Simple Tools to getting started with Scripture memorization. Do you have 7 minutes?
From the video:
Scripture memorization is important for a number of reasons. It is the truth that is essential to combat lies that we are bombarded with and believe all of the time. It is like a sword that penetrates the deepest part of who we are to bring us to repentance and make us more like Jesus. It is accompanied by the Spirit of God to bring healing, comfort, joy and peace.Scripture has the power to transform lives. Scripture memory makes our thoughts clearer. It also helps to steady our emotions. Proverbs says that as a man thinks, so he is. Depression and anxiety are linked with negative thoughts. Joy and contentment are linked with intentional and positive thoughts. Your thoughts have the ability to determine your behavior and who you are, and so if our thoughts are centered around the truth found in the Word, we become more in line with who our Creator God made us to be.
I hope this labor of love helps someone out there get started with this habit. Watch the video. I love it 🙂
Darren
