From time to time we would like to include articles in 'round about the church to challenge your thinking, encourage you in your service and provide ideas for effective ministry options you might try. This article is about Scripture Memory and the role it has in our Children's Ministries.
Psalm 119:11 - Your Word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You. NASB
This one verse is probably the single most often-utilized verse people turn to when they think about why they should memorize Scripture. Well-meaning and intentioned people tell me, “We need to have kids memorize lots of Scripture while they are young so when they are older it will mean something to them and they will have it when they need it.” When I hear that, I wonder two things . . . why should we wait till kids have grown up to expect Scripture to mean something to them and why don’t we think kids will need Scripture to be real to them, now?
One of the beautiful things about Psalm 119 is that it is broken into passages. Let’s take a closer look at Psalm 119:11 in the context of the other verses in this passage.
Psalm 119:9-16
9. How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word.
10. With all my heart I have sought You; Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
11. Your Word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
12. Blessed are You, O LORD; Teach me Your statutes.
13. With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of Your mouth.
14. I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As much as in all riches.
15. I will meditate on Your precepts and regard Your ways.
16. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your Word.
What a beautiful and challenging passage, which
taken as a passage - rather than just one verse - sheds tremendous light
on the whole issue of Scripture memorization. I believe Scripture
memorization is something children, youth and adults should regularly be
doing, but not just for the sake of “memorizing verses”. Lets
take a look at this passage - all of it - to see what it teaches us about
memorization.
First, verse 9 begins with a question, “How can a young man keep his way pure?” I do believe this is one of the main reasons we want children to learn God’s Word. We all wonder the same thing, not just for “young men”, but also for all of us of any age. We recognize that we all need help to keep our way pure. This verse goes on to answer the question by telling us to keep our way according to God’s Word - this indicates we have to do three things. We must remember God’s Word . . . this is where Scripture memory comes in as to keep God’s Word, we have to remember what He said. Then we have to understand it . . .we have to keep our way according to God’s Word - this will only happen if we understand God’s Word and then we have to put it into practice by living it in our everyday life!
Verse 10 challenges us to seek God with all our heart - memorization is not just about head knowledge, it has to be something that involves all of us. When it isn’t just in our head, we won’t wander from God’s commandments.
Then for verse 11 - it encourages us to hide or treasure in our heart - not our head - so we won’t sin. The not sinning isn’t a result of words in our head, but rather from words, treasured and lived out of our very being! From there, David goes on to praise God and ask Him to be his Teacher so as David learns from God, he will be able to tell others, rejoice/follow/live God’s Word, not for some prize or external reward, but rather for the joy of knowing God and having His Word real in his life - this in itself is more valuable to David than riches!
Verse 15 shows us that David did not consider Scripture memory to be something he would “learn” and not use, but rather one reason for learning was to enable him to continually refer back to and meditate on that Scripture so he would be able to continue to learn and know more of God and His ways! Finally, the end result is that David delights in God’s Word and will not forget/neglect what he has learned!
This passage, as a whole, has much to say about Scripture Memory, but how does this translate into our ministries to the children and families in our churches and communities? How should we approach Scripture memory - what should our goal be for Scripture memory? How do we develop real, effective Scripture memory plans where God’s Word is remembered, understood and lived out in our lives and the lives of the children and adults in our church and community? And, how to we take into account the role of the Holy Spirit in teaching people - children included - so they will understand God’s Word to be able to live it in their lives?
Let’s take a look at these questions. First, how do we approach Scripture memory . . . what should our goal in Scripture memory be? Why do we want people to memorize Scripture? Our passage in Psalm 119 gave us four reasons David wanted to remember God’s Word.
- So he would live a pure life and not sin.
- So he would know God.
- So he would continue to learn more about God.
- So he could tell others.
When we look at our reasons for Scripture memory
- what are they? Why do we have children memorizing Scripture?
There may be several reasons you can think of, but it isn’t good enough
that we memorize because we are a church and Scripture memory is something
we have kids do. It should never be so kids can earn badges
and trophies. What do we want to be the end result of Scripture memory?
Do we really want our efforts to result in short term memory goals or do
we want to see the long term, living out of Scripture in the lives of children
and adults? Take a moment to think about the goals you want to see
accomplished because you have people involved in Scripture memory.
You may want to consider gathering a group of teachers, parents and church
members to help determine the goals your church has for Scripture memory.
Once you have your goals on paper, how do you develop a real, effective Scripture memory plan where children and adults are remembering, understanding and living out God’s Word in their everyday lives? I thought it may be helpful to talk with some Children’s Directors and Pastors from churches across the country to see what they are doing in the area of Scripture memory. I was truly saddened to hear of the low level of participation in Scripture memory by children and the almost non-existent level of participation by adults in something as valuable as Scripture memory. While we all say it is important, so few people are really memorizing Scripture - and even fewer understanding and living that Scripture.
However, I am delighted to say there are some churches where they are experiencing success in equipping their children and adults in the area of Scripture memory! I asked Larry Shallenberger of Grace Baptist Church, Erie, Pennsylvania, how they approach Scripture memory - he said, “We spend 10 - 15 minutes per Sunday School class reviewing the Scripture verse and making sure the children understand what it is that Scripture is trying to teach us. We do NOT do the traditional rewards programs for Bible memory, because they are extrinsically driven, the only children who will succeed are the children whose parents get behind it. We also want children to be vested in life-long Bible learning because they know its value.” Larry's Children’s Ministry handbook says, “Bible Memory is very important to us. However, we don’t want to merely hide God’s Word in our brains. The Bible talks about God’s Word being hidden in our heart. In Biblical language the heart was the symbol of the whole person: mind, will and emotion. We need to have God’s Word permeate every part of who we are . . . With that in mind, we need to say we don’t value cramming Scripture into a child’s short term memory. That’s not an ambitious enough goal. We do want our children to be able to recite Scripture, but we also want our children to be able to comprehend the Scripture they are memorizing. Without comprehension, the whole exercise is meaningless.” Larry goes on to explain how they spend time on Sundays and Wednesdays working to learn the same verse. Then he makes a very important point. “Every day review of the verse needs to be supplied by the family . . . We’ve found the children who learn memory work the best are children whose parents get involved with them.”
Gordon West, of Kids At Heart in Mesa, AZ, told me at his church they, “want the kids to enjoy memorizing God’s Word for the joy of getting to know God better, so this must be modeled by the adults. We want the kids to understand the verses they memorize and so do work with paraphrasing.” They have children learn one verse a month, with the emphasis on “retention and understanding beyond just rote memory of the verse . . . We ask that teachers NEVER ask for just rote memory, but also require the child to repeat the verse in his/her own words. We also try to teach on the meaning of the verse in addition to memorization . . . while remaining in our place as the “supporters” of the spiritual nurturing that the parents are responsible for.”
I so appreciate Larry and Gordon stressing the role parents play in effective Scripture memory. Look through God’s Word. You will find verses and passages, like in Psalm 119, encouraging individuals to learn Bible verses. You will find passages like Deuteronomy 6 where parents are commanded to teach their children. You will not find verses that tell the church to teach children memory verses. Why is it so many people today look to the church as the one whose responsibility it is to teach Scripture memory? This isn’t to say the church should not be involved in teaching Scripture memory, but it is the “job” and joy of parents and individuals to memorize Scripture and teach their children to do the same.
This can be a difficult area in Children’s Ministry to try and affect changes to make Scripture memory real. Be aware, you may have people in your church who fit one of the following categories.
- “More is better” - the children need to be given lots of memory verses to learn.
- “Rewards” are a fact of life, so it is okay to reward kids for verses learned.
- “I memorized verses as a kid and while they didn’t necessarily mean anything to me then, they do now.”
In my own church I struggle to help people understand the “whys” for real Scripture memory. We have people who want the kids to learn many verses and think they should be rewarded for doing so. The Scripture memory plan we are working to utilize is as follows:
- We select one verse/short passage from our Sunday School curriculum to be our verse for the month . . . across the ages so families can learn together.
- The first week we focus on learning the verse.
- The second week, kids say the verse and learn what it means.
- The third week, kids say the verse, tell what it means and share a way they lived it in their lives the previous week.
- The fourth week, kids say the verse - by now, most all the kids will know the verse, even those who struggle with memorizing - they tell again what it means to them and tell another, different way they lived the verse in their real lives.
- If there is a fifth week, they repeat and tell another way they lived the verse.
I really like this plan for Scripture memory because the focus is not on just learning the words in proper order - I’m not impressed by someone memorizing a hundred verses unless they also are living those hundred verses - but the emphasis is on understanding and living God’s Word! We don’t give prizes or rewards for Scripture memory - the prize is God’s Word, being able to see God’s Word is real - today! Affects my life - now! Enables me to know God - for real! Just as these reasons were worth more to David than riches, they can be “reward” for children and adults today as well!
And what about the Holy Spirit? Scripture clearly shows He is our Teacher, see John 14:26, and in our passage from Psalm 119, David talked about God being his Teacher as well. But, how does He do this? I wouldn’t want to put God in a “box” and say He can only teach us in certain ways, but God does give the gifts of Preaching and Teaching to people, so I believe it is possible one of the primary ways God teaches us, is through the people He gifts. We need to be sure we have people who are gifted in areas that involve teaching our children. We also need to be sure we are providing training opportunities for our volunteer teachers so they are able to develop their effectiveness in teaching. In addition, it is crucial that we provide opportunities for our volunteers to grow in their own walk as a teacher who is walking with God is one who will be able to be used by God and will be tremendously more effective in helping to lead others in their walk with God as well. When our teachers help their students to understand the words they are memorizing, and are teaching children to spend time in prayer with God, the children will come to see God will be their Teacher - we have all had experiences where we were reading Scripture or meditating on Scripture we memorized when all of a sudden, it became clear what that passage is all about. This is an example of when the Spirit, Himself, is our Teacher. God is certainly able to take words we don’t understand, and teach us to understand what they mean, but I do believe we are delighting God when we and our teachers use the gifts He has given to help children understand the words they are memorizing!
Perhaps your church recognizes the need to develop a Scripture memory plan that is real, so developing a goal and implementing a plan to involve the children and adults in real Scripture memory is something you should be able to go ahead with. But maybe your church still looks at Scripture memory from the perspectives mentioned earlier and you are wondering if this is a battle worth fighting or one that doesn’t really matter enough to go through the struggle to implement change. After all, what is so bad about making kids memorize lots of verses and giving them awards/prizes for doing so? Please allow me to share a few true stories with you.
When I was in high school, I was on my church’s quiz team. It was my goal to be able to answer any question with no more than five words of that question being spoken. I memorized doctrine books and a hundred verses - King James Version, word perfect. I quizzed out - personally answered five of the fifteen questions in a match - of every match, except for two. I do not remember most of what I memorized, but I do have trophies for winning in international competition - understanding for application would have been tremendously more long lasting and life impacting. I truly wish someone had said, “Quiz team may be fun, but remembering, understanding and living God’s Word is more valuable than winning”. As a teen, I didn’t understand this. I wish my leaders did.
My children have been able to memorize easily and when they were younger, they earned lots of badges from their mid-week club. I thought this was a great thing, until one evening when I noticed other children crying when week after week they didn’t receive badges because they struggled with putting the words in order and memorization was difficult for them. No child should feel like they are not good enough at church.
A lady I know thinks memorizing lots of verses is important. She has a daughter who can memorize and while this daughter is only in the fourth grade, she has memorized many verses. This girl, however, is a challenge in our Children’s Ministry . . . she lies, won’t share or take turns and takes things from others. This girl’s mother wants her to memorize lots of verses . . . I pray she learns to understand and live even some of the Scripture she must memorize.
I’m not advocating that we in Children’s Ministry stop having children memorize Scripture, but in previous years, I do believe we tended to swing too far to the extreme of having children memorize many verses, for which they were rewarded with candy, or prizes without focusing on what the verses mean and how to live them in their everyday lives. We do not need to swing to the other extreme of providing almost no Scripture for kids to memorize. There is balance somewhere in the middle, but to get to that place of balance, we may need to go to very focused Scripture memory, offering only a few verses to be memorized with an emphasis on living those verses out. Once children - and adults - see Scripture does mean something to their lives, now, they will be willing to memorize more Scripture for the joy God’s Word, living in their lives brings - this a great reason to memorize Scripture!
Now, I’m sure there are people who memorize lots of verses, understand them and live God’s Word. But for the kids who struggle and feel they are not good enough and for the ones who only focus on the number of verses or the “prize” to win rather than the living of Scripture, we in Children’s Ministry have the opportunity to take a stand and make a difference so those in our ministry will “delight in God’s statutes and not forget His Word” for their lifetime! It is worth the struggle!
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Copyright © Lynda Freeman
Last Updated Feb. 16, 2003
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