Why Teach Kids to Memorize Bible Verses (3 Excellent Reasons)
Before passing judgment on the idea, take a moment to reflect on this question. Were you the individual compelled to memorize Bible verses as a child and detested the experience? If so, reserve your judgment, as you are presently alive and capable of reading (or listening to) this article. You stand as a testament to resilience, not a part of the grim statistics surrounding teen suicide.
If you are thinking about what a life-changing effect the scriptures had on you because your parents, the church, or a Bible club encouraged Bible memory, you may agree with my experience. You may have been the kid who memorized so many verses you won the contest at vacation Bible school. Out of three-hundred kids, you learned the most verses in a two-week period and won a trampoline. (That was my youngest son’s experience.
Reason #1 God’s Word Changes Lives
A very long time ago, my personal experience proved After two weeks of vacation Bible school, my sister and I were getting along better than ever. Our mother noticed and said, “if you two are going to get along so well you better keep going to church all the time (smile). She wasn’t a real enthused attendee herself. Nor did she push it. But I got my license soon thereafter and took my sister and our little brothers. We did keep going. I’m so thankful for that. It truly changed my life for the good and for all of eternity. Things will never be the same.
Reason #2 God’s Word is Truth Overcoming Evil
That’s why I want to share with every parent out there who is trying to rear children in this sin-sick world, the importance of giving kids something they can cling to. Give them some truth instead of the lies that invade the airwaves. The influencers your kids may be listening to, who have fallen for the lies are promoting them to your precious offspring. I’ve been in a college classroom where the best way to pass was to side with the professor’s politics.
I’ve worked in public schools in two different cities and have been very disappointed in the lack of education and the intense efforts to simply keep students from assaulting each other or staff and faculty. Scanning book bags on arrival was the norm. It’s worse today. Now teachers have to accept that a child wishes to be known as a wolf or they are fired. Come on! Did God ever say in His Word you had any choice in creation?
Going back into the history of the United States, you’ll find there have been predictions of what would result from secular education. In the 1960s through 1990s when my children were of elementary and high school age, we were concerned about humanistic teaching. We started a Christian school.
Back in the 1920s, J. Gresham Machen had studied first at Princeton University, stated this regarding secular education:
“Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state…where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist. Such a tyranny, supported as it is by a perverse technique used as the instrument in destroying human souls, is certainly far more dangerous than the crude tyrannies of the past.”¹
Dr. Gordan Clark, another well-known Christian writer, spoke on the topic of education in 1935, and told Christian families:
“In public schools, children receive pagan education…Any Christian should have sense enough to see that subjection to pagan influences works an injustice to the child…just because a young man survives pagan instruction is no reason for subjecting him to it…Only if they reject the godless view of the world, will our Christian families be prepared to face the ensuing dark ages.” ²
God’s Word commands us to adhere to its teachings, not the teaching of man, especially not the teachings of those who have turned away from or never believed God’s Word.
But the very best reason for teaching Bible memory is its protective results. God tells us so much of the good it will do us.
Reason # 3 It Helps You Overcome Those Who Would Deceive You
But more importantly, the best reasons for memorizing God’s Word is the benefits He tells about in I John 2:26, I John 5:4–6, John 16:33.
“I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.”
“Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ…and it is the Spirit Who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth” (I John 5:5, (NIV).
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” John 16:33 (NIV).
God’s Word is the only surefire truth. Here’s what God says about it.
“The Commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight for living. Reverence for the Lord is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb” Psalm 19:8–10, (NLT).
And you can read through all the Psalms and see many more reasons to hide it in your heart.
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This post was first seen at kidsbiblememory.com Parents, check out our Bible Verse Memes @https://payhip.com/b/b7EFN
