NOTE: This is Part 1 of a 5-part series explaining spiritual disciplines to children. Each article in the series is designed to be read by kids or to kids. You can check out the rest of the series here.
by Madigan Roelfs
What is it?
The New Testament tells us about how being a Christian is like running a race or preparing for battle. Whether you are a Christian soldier or runner, you will need to train in order to be prepared. I am going to explain an exercise we should all be doing: memorizing Scripture. Taking time to intentionally memorize the words of God strengthens us and helps us as we seek to honor and obey God.
What’s the Bible say about it?
The reason for doing it comes from the Bible, and is one of the first verses I memorized:Psalm 119:11 – “Your word I have hid in my heart that I might not sin against you”. When we fill our hearts with God’s words, we leave no room for sin or temptation. Like it says in Luke 6:45 – “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Whatever a person has in their heart will come out. When we memorize, we are training our heart to be full of good.
How can I do it?
If you are in Sunday School, Awana, or Bible Quizzing, you have probably memorized part of God’s word. If you haven’t, you can start today! Ask your parents to help you pick out a verse and start memorizing it.
Once you’ve memorized Scripture, you are ready to move on to another exercise. I want you to think of the last verse you memorized, focus all your thoughts on it. Think about, what does this mean? What is God saying in this verse? Do I need to change my actions because of what I learned from this verse?This process of focusing your thoughts and thinking through a verse is called meditation. The Israelites were told in Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
If they were thinking about God’s words in the day and at night, they would not be able to forget the commands and promises God gave them. This is the same for us. If we meditate on his words day and night, we will not be able to forget them.