Scripture Memory Boot-Camp

A few weeks ago while we were in the midst of yard sale madness, Katie and Weyland Leach had us over for dinner. While we were eating our delicious brats that Katie made, their sweet little 3 year old Lily Grace recited to us Psalm 1. Yes, that’s right. 3 years old!!! Justin and I left their house that night so convicted that we have not been memorizing Scripture on a consistent basis and really need to get back into the habit. Amazing how a 3 year old can convict you, right?!


Providentially, the week after our dinner with the Leach’s a new SS started at our church called “Scripture Memory”. A goal was presented to the class as a whole to memorize one verse a day over the next 4 months so as to memorize the book of 1 John by early January. I will have to admit that the thought of memorizing at this pace intimidated the tar out of me at first. We both decided that we needed a good kick in the pants when it came to this spiritual discipline, and have dived into hiding this rich and encouraging book in our hearts. We really want to model to our kids a love of Scripture and to be in the habit of memorizing it regularly.

sweet Lily Grace

There have been a few things undergirding our memory goal this semester that have made memorization a lot more attainable and victorious from times in the past.

#1- We have a lot of accountability. Our SS class has broken up into groups of 4, and we are striving to either call, text, or email each other through the week to check up on how our memorizing is going.

#2- There are many in our SS class who work with/near us. On a daily basis we have been running into others at work who are asking us how memorizing is going and this is SO encouraging.

#3- Justin and I have set aside a time during breakfast and dinner to go over our verses together. This has been the first time in our marriage we have been this intentional about Scripture memory. It’s really been fun to be memorizing the same verses together. We hope that one day our kids will grow to love God’s Word and learn how to memorize it by having it modeled to them through our actions.

#4- I (Bonnie) am doing a Precept study on 1 John with my friend Heather. Studying this book is helping me understand what I’m memorizing and it’s making things stick in my heart a lot more than just memorizing it on its own.

#5- We’re actually praying that God will give us grace to memorize, to understand what we’re memorizing, and to obey these truths. We’re seeing in a fresh way how much we really need the Spirit to help us live out His Word!

We’re only 3 weeks into this Scripture Memory boot-camp. Will you please ask us how this is going 4 months from now?! We are really hoping that these next few months will build in us habits that will stick, and that our lives will be characterized as being full of God’s Word that spills out in our conversations and actions.

“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” Psalm 19:7-8