Leadership Tips & Training A Year-Long Scripture Memory Journey

We are now beginning our fifth month of the Scripture memory challenge! May also signals the end of school and for many, it finally brings that long awaited graduation day. Unfortunately, it is also the time for tiredness and boredom to set in. Maybe you have not kept up with a verse a week and have even given up on the challenge. Do not lose heart! Let the words of 2 Corinthians 12:9 encourage you today: But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 

This month let’s focus once again on the task of memorizing scripture perfectly. Think back to all the nursery rhymes and children’s songs that you learned as a young child. If I gathered a few of you together in a room and asked you to sing Mary Had a Little Lamb, more than likely you all would sing every word the same. You learned the song perfectly, so you remember it perfectly! We do not want to make Scripture memory a legalistic task with no room for grace. However, we do want to hide the complete truth in our hearts, not just partial truth or a watered down version.  Take time to write out your verses correctly, not subtracting or adding any words. As you memorize the verse and as you review it, take time to check your accuracy, so that you will know the whole truth and nothing but the truth!

I have spent hours looking for a verse in my concordance without any success, simply because I was looking for the wrong word! Learning the verse word perfect will help you in your Bible study and in directing someone to the verse who needs the truth in a counseling situation.

Please email me with any of your insights, suggestions, or testimonies related to scripture memory. I will be sharing some of these in our next leadership tip.  In the meantime, keep treasuring the Word!

Feasting on the Word!

Nancy Taylor
nstaylor@houston.rr.com


Nancy Taylor is the First Place Leadership Training Director and joined the First Place staff in 1997. Nancy teaches leadership principles to First Place Leaders throughout the country and at Houston's First Baptist Church where she coordinates all the First Place groups. Nancy also speaks at First Place workshops, rallies, retreats, and conferences, where she delights her audiences with humor and encourages them with boldness. She writes a monthly article, which includes helpful tips for leaders, for the First Place E-newsletter, and was a contributing writer to the Today is the First Day devotional book. Nancy is the resident First Place Bible Concordance because of her love for Scripture memory.