Last week I attended a funeral of a long-time friend. He was a beloved minister of the Gospel, and his sweet wife is one of the best friends I have ever had. We saw many friends that we haven’t seen in years, some I remembered and some I didn’t. Distance and time have made me forget specifics about some past relationships, including a sweet lady that I did not remember at all.

As we were visiting with people before the funeral, this lady reminded me of how we had been acquainted. We had attended the same congregation for a time, and her son had been in my Bible class. As was my custom, I assigned various memory work for the class. One day when her son was trying to learn his memory assignment, he became frustrated. He told his mother, “I hate memory work. Can we just fire her?”

She and I laughed at the story, one which I truly do not remember; but I am not surprised at his reaction. That is often the way children respond to doing any learning assignment when they would rather be doing something else.

It did make me think about the reason we ask children to memorize Scripture. It was a significant part of my learning growing up, and I cherish what I have been able to retain. The problem is that often the memory work we give children is just to memorize and not to understand the meaning and use in their daily lives. Memorizing without purpose is not meaningful memorization.

So, what is the purpose of memorizing Scripture? It is to help us know that the Bible is true and “to be prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you…” (First Peter 3:15). Memorizing Scripture helps us answer questions about what we believe and lets us speak from God’s instructions, not ours. This helps us avoid controversy, since we can attribute the commands of God to God Himself.

Memorizing Scripture helps to cultivate and improve our hearts and minds so that our work will be pleasing to God. It gives us a zeal, a desire, and confidence in teaching others about God and the church. It is the effort Paul tells Timothy about in First Timothy 2:15. Though Paul was talking to a preacher, that passage is no less meaningful to us as Christians. Timothy learned the Scripture as a child (Second Timothy 3:14), from his mother and his grandmother. This learning had made him wise. He understood how to divide the Scriptures—the Old Law from the New Law. We need to know that today.

There is a way which memorizing Scripture can be a special blessing. It is so comforting in the time of trouble, sickness, or loss. I had to have a particular surgical procedure that was concerning. As I lay alone in the waiting area for the doctor to arrive, I could feel the anxiety mounting. My thoughts went to Psalm 23, and I began to recite the passage slowly in my mind. It gave me the comfort I needed, and it quieted my fears. I have found that reciting that passage (or Psalm 1) relaxes me and allows me to gain a better perspective on the situation.

There is a sense of accomplishment when we memorize Scripture. Years ago, I taught a class of all boys. One of the boys had a special gift for memorizing. He completed all of the memory assignments I gave, and he asked me to give him additional Scripture to learn. I gave him what I thought would be fairly difficult and time consuming. I challenged him to learn the entire Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7). He did, and he was asked by the high school Bible class teacher to say it for his students. He then asked me, “What’s next,” so I challenged him to memorize all of the one-chapter books in the Bible. He did this as well.

Not everyone is capable or willing to memorize such passages, but most anyone can memorize First Corinthians 13, Psalm 1 and 23. Most anyone can memorize passage that tell someone how to become a Christian.

Though the Old Testament commandments do not apply to us today, they are a source of learning for us (Romans 15:4). Just as the Psalms give us comfort, the instructions of the Old Testament serve as an example to us for the expectations of God the Father.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 shows the value of learning God’s instructions. The Jews were told to teach the Lord’s commandments constantly to their children. How much less valuable would it be for us today to teach our children constantly? Realize that in teaching our children, we are teaching ourselves as well.

I didn’t get fired for assigning memory work, but I struggle just as much today as I did then to get the children in my class to memorize. That, however, does not keep me from assigning verses of Scripture for memorization and working with my students to learn things like the books of the Bible, disciples, the judges, the good kings of the divided kingdom, the beatitudes, and many other facts in the Bible.

One is never too old to learn, but the learning is much easier when you are young. Don’t let your children leave your home without equipping them with a knowledge of God’s Word. It will bless their lives.

Sandra Oliver