The intentional act of memorizing the Bible has fallen out of favor these days. I should know because I, for one, have done a very poor job of doing so myself. The more I think about it, it’s easy to do. The Bible has never been more convenient; I especially like using YouVersion. I can go buy a basic copy of the Bible for less than five dollars in a lot of bookstores. Nevertheless, I believe memorization is important even if I don’t have an immediate need for it.
Why Memorize in the Modern World?
I think this is so vital to memorize because having the Bible internalized helps center my thinking. In my last post, I discussed living life on autopilot vs living life intentionally. I do not wish to ever find myself caught up in terrible desires or actions. For me, this is the entire point of implementing the habits of grace. It has nothing to do with me attempting to earn ‘extra credit’ or turn myself into some ‘super-spiritual’ person. Implementing the right habits really does have a good effect on my mind and, subsequently, on my soul as well.
When it comes to Bible memory, let me make something perfectly clear. I do not believe in memorizing for the purposes of having a spiritual trophy. When I was a kid, there was this contest called the ‘Bible Bee’ (which I think is still going). It was a competition for kids 9-15 involving memorizing Bible verses. My Mom printed out the list and I remember setting to work on it. That was well over fifteen years ago, so you’ll understand when I say I don’t recall exactly how far I got into it. It really doesn’t matter because the verses I committed to memory didn’t mean anything to me. I memorized a pretty good stack of verses, but it was no different than memorizing the Gettysburg Address or a few lines of poetry. Once the contest was over, I stopped. (and I strongly suspect this was the same for others as well.
Is Memorization Difficult?
Over the years, I’ve memorized quite a few things. Bible memory has been something I would get excited about and then quickly abandon. The reason being one of mindset. I picked random passages and verses that seemed like a good idea to have locked up, but I was still stuck in the Bible Bee mindset. It had no personal value to me, I was trying to stack up spiritual accolades. Like hunters who like to mount trophies on their wall.
About two years ago, I committed some poems to memory. One of them was Alfred Lord Tennyson’s ‘Ulysses’. I was able to do it in about two days flat. An impressive achievement. But I want to explain the circumstances behind this. At the time, I was engaged in work that was mind-numbingly dull to me. I memorized poems for no other reason than to break up the mental dryness of the day. Pay attention to this, I didn’t memorize at random. I picked something that was important to me on some level, and that was of some immediate use/
In taking up Bible memory again (and hoping I don’t fail for the eightieth time), I’m taking a different approach. For one, my mindset is very different. This time, I’m not attempting to mount spiritual trophies on the proverbial wall. I believe that there are certain passages of Scripture that speak to us more so than others. I’m not trying to say that we should discard anything. I will say that Leviticus doesn’t have as much application to me as the Sermon on the Mount. I searched and compiled a list of passages that I believe have something to say to me directly.
Dallas Willard on Memorizing Passages
Before I end this, let me also point out my use of the word passages. I’m not really convinced (and don’t take this to heart, by the way, this is nothing more than an opinion) that memorizing individual verses is such a great idea. Let me bring up an interesting comment from Professor Dallas Willard;
“Memorizing miscellaneous verses is a good thing, but when I talk about memorizing Scripture, I’m really talking about memorizing passages, whole Psalms, or long parts of the letters or gospels…That does something to not only your mind, but your outlook. For me, anything that is going to be effective in spiritual formation or growth in grace has got to be holistic…That’s the main thing I’ve found out by use, that there’s power in long passages of the Word being committed to memory.” – Dallas Willard
I’m not suggesting that I plan on memorizing entire chapters (of course, that’s not a bad idea either). I’ve just seen that memorizing an individual verse makes it harder to memorize the Bible effectively over a more extended period of time. Just think about having all these tiny verses scattered around in your head. Additionally, I think it’s far too easy to take a small verse and take it way out of context. Bear in mind that, as useful as the verse system is, it didn’t come around until approximately five hundred years ago. (and it was done
Of course, this is just my opinion. Like I said, certain sections of the Bible affect other people differently. It may be that memorizing in sections is just better for me personally, others might do better with the individual verses. In trying to internalize the habits of grace, it’s important to remember that this is all an individual path.
