How to memorize Scripture

The first passage that my husband memorized in college was 1 Timothy 4:7-8,

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

These verses are the foundation of any discipline in the spiritual life. We could concern ourselves with senseless, meaningless things...and we do! But, there is a greater value in investing in eternal exercises [see also Matthew 6:19-20]. When we train ourselves to be godly [the word "train" is the Greek word gymnaze--a word that forms the root of our English word "gymnasium"], it has benefit now and forever.

Many people argue that they can't memorize the Bible. Truth is, we all memorize things: birthdays, phone numbers, email addresses, football statistics, client names. We remember things that are important to us. Bible memory is a discipline whereby we chose to put our mind to work in what we know will yield a great reward [we'll see this more when we get to weeks #5 and #18].

Tips to memorize Scripture:

1. Same time, same place. Chose a rhythm of place and time to help you work on your verse. I will likely work on my passage during my daily walk/run. You could use your commute time or lunch break. I heard of one guy who put his verse on a card taped to the dashboard of his car and, just before he turned the key, he would recite the week's passage.

2. Study to make it stick. It's hard work to memorize a sentence that doesn't make sense. But, once you understand what it says, it's a piece of cake. Take a few minutes to figure out what each verse actually means and you'll find it easier to learn and retain each one.

3. Rewrite and record. This discipline will be much easier if you rewrite the verse, in your own handwriting, on a note card [the act of writing it down the first time jump starts the memory process]. Also, when you write the verse down, separate it into bite-size phrases and put each phrase on a separate line.

4. Drop the divisions. The verse divisions [i.e., Numbers 23:15, 16, 17] are not a part of the inspired text. They are markers, added much later, as a convenience to the Bible reader. It's not important for you to remember where verse 3 ends and verse 4 begins. So, drop it.

5. One version. Choose a version of the Bible that you most often use and stick with it through the discipline. Remember, you are learning texts that you will remember, recall and use in ministry. So, choose wisely. In this blog, I have referenced the New International Version because of it correspondence to original languages, its widespread usage and its readability.

6. Word perfect. Do the hard work of getting each verse memorized word perfect. You'll thank yourself later. Memorization is like the "telephone game." As the years roll on, you might find yourself dropping a word or accidental flopping a phrase. If you start with an inaccurate starting point, you could end up anywhere a few years from now.

7. Review, review, review. The real key to verse memory isn't the initial memorization; It's the ongoing review. I plan to review prior verses during the first 1/2 mile of my walk and work on my present week's verse for the remainder of my exercise. Constant recall will insure a lifetime of retention.