We have to be careful not to limit Bible memory to something that kids do in Sunday School. Memorizing Scripture is a terrific discipline for all ages and helps Christians in many ways. Below I offer a few ways it helps us and a link to a free resource.
Bible Memory Helps Us to Ponder the Mind of God
We are limited in our thinking. Romans 11:33-34a says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?'”. Put simply, God is bigger than us. With our human minds, how can we really think that we can know what God is like? The answer: we can’t fully, but God has communicated to us in the Bible so we can know Him truly. 2 Peter 1:21 tells us, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
If God has communicated with us, it would make sense for us to take advantage of what He has said. Here we need to understand the difference between the Word of God in our pocket (on our phone) and the Word of God in our heart. Having access to something is not the same thing as knowing something, and it’s even less than applying that something.
Think about it in the area of sports. You could have access to Michael Jordan and Lebron’s stats online any time you want. But, if you have memorized each of the key stats, you start to compare and contrast them in your head. You wonder what the contributing factors are for this statistic or for that one. You have a working knowledge, not just access to information. Or if we think about it in terms of March Madness brackets. If you memorize your bracket and know each team you pick, it will affect you differently than if it’s just stored on your phone. If you hear a score, you will not first look to see if you pick this team or that, you will either celebrate or throw your hands up because your bracket is busted.
Bible Memory Helps Us to Evaluate Teaching
The more of God’s Word that we have stored in our hearts, the more we think upon it, the more we will be able to compare what we read and hear with the Bible. This has to do with direct Bible memorization and also overall Bible familiarity. Of course, the great example that we have in Scripture is the Bereans, who tested what Paul said according to Scripture.[1]
There are examples of people in church history doing this when they were testing new thoughts and understandings of the Bible. They would mentally trace the new information through their knowledge of the Bible to see if it held up. If it didn’t, it clanked at the bottom of the junk bin. That’s a good practice for us too.
But, if it passes our “test,” it’s only as good as our amount of knowledge we have. We’ll still need to look at it more in-depth. If we don’t have an excellent filter, it will be hard for us to wrestle over anything. Because we will have way too many things making it through.
Bible Memory Helps Us When We Are Tempted
Bible memory not only aids in filtering out bad teaching, but it also helps do battle on bad choices. Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit at work through the Word of God that allows us to resist temptation. Any victory over sin is a victory because of God, not us. But hiding God’s Word in our heart prepares us for battle.
There was a big scare in 1999. We were about to go into the year 2000. With this, there were a lot of people saying that the year change would cause all computers to crash. Since most of our systems in this world are dependent on computers, that would mean mad chaos. So what did people do? Well, some prepared little bunkers or stocked up on canned food. Others made sure they got computers that were Y2K (year 2000) compatible. Yet, all these preparations didn’t matter because chaos never ensued. Contrast this with Noah preparing for the flood by building the ark. In that case, God told him what was about to happen, and gave him what he needed to face the coming flood. Calamity was not a distant possibility, but a sure thing, and would be foolish to reject God’s instructions.
Those who are in Christ by faith are spared of the greatest calamity of all. But, in this life, we have continued temptations and difficulties. For these, God has given us what we need. He has sent the Holy Spirit to be with us, and he has also given us his Word. The Bible says that Scripture is provided so that we might be complete and equipped.[2] When we memorize Scripture, we are equipping for battle. We are not going around while leaving the necessary supplies at home. Instead, we are carrying a concealed weapon that is ready at any moment.
Here is a free e-book on Scripture memory that you might find helpful.
[1] Acts 17:11
[2] 2 Timothy 3:16-17
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