Why Memorizing Scripture is Important

[Linksquest]

Today I really realized for the first time how much I need to memorize the scriptures in the Bible. The Bible is what we use in spiritual battle as our sword.

Ephesians 6:17 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. NIV

When teh devil was tempting Jesus in the desert, Jesus quoted scripture to rebuke him.

Luke 4
The Temptation of Jesus
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.

3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'[a]"

5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'[b]"

9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'[c]"

12Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[d]"

13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. NIV
Notice how after each time Jesus quoted scripture satan (yes lower case s cause satan doesn't deserve a big s) satan had nothing to say, he just went on to the next temptation. Jesus was speaking scripture; speaking truth.
Matthew 5:13-16
13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.


14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. NIV
John 8:12
12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." NIV

Light casts out all darkness. When light is present, darkness cannot be present. Darkness is the absense of light. speaking truth: quoting scripture, can bring light to places where light has not been before, and cannot be contested by the darkness, because, when light is present, darkness cannot be present.

[Nate]

Just a quick note that memorizing is nice, but even the Pharisees had the scriptures memorized in Jesus' day and they completely missed the point of everything.

MORE important than memorizing Scripture is having an understanding of what they mean and actively applying them in your life.

And that's my nit-picking for the day.

[ShiroiHikari]

I agree with you, Nathan.

For me personally, memorizing is more detrimental than beneficial because then I start to think, "Ugh, I have to memorize more verses today." I start to feel negatively about the Scriptures and it becomes like some kind of half-hearted ritual. (I feel the same way about praying before every meal.)

Besides, it's more impressive when you can flip straight to where something is and show it to somebody, letting them read it for themselves. How do they know you're not misquoting or taking it out of context?

[Linksquest]

Just a quick note that memorizing is nice, but even the Pharisees had the scriptures memorized in Jesus' day and they completely missed the point of everything.

MORE important than memorizing Scripture is having an understanding of what they mean and actively applying them in your life.

And that's my nit-picking for the day.

Psalm 119:11

11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.

Yes, Nathan, What you did say is true. We can't just have a head knowledgem but a heart knowledge. God can give us new understanding of scriptures, even if we have memorised a scripture and read it countless times. God reveals new things to us through his word.

Besides, it's more impressive when you can flip straight to where something is and show it to somebody, letting them read it for themselves. How do they know you're not misquoting or taking it out of context?

I think you have a good point, but somtimes there will be situations where you may not have a Bible available. You can tell people the verses so they can go check them later on if they doubt your correct quotation.

[Kaori]

For me personally, memorizing is more detrimental than beneficial because then I start to think, "Ugh, I have to memorize more verses today." I start to feel negatively about the Scriptures and it becomes like some kind of half-hearted ritual.

I suppose the experience differs for every believer. For me, memorizing scripture has often helped me come to deeper understanding of a verse or passage simply because of the necessary time spent on memorization. Also, a verse that either is memorized or that I know well will sometimes come to mind when I am in a situation that it applies to, but that can only happen when I actually know the verse.

Kaemmerite does make a good point, though; memorization should never be something that we take pride in for its own sake.

[Linksquest]

1 Corinthians 9:14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel. NKJV

[Mave]

Linksquest, if you're interested, we do have a thread dedicated towards memorizing scripture. It's small but it's a good start.

http://www.christiananime.net/showthread.php?t=23458

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Dude.... you shouldn't feel obligated to want to memorize verses. Only do it if you want to. it's a good way to be a quick witness and pull verses with speaking of Christian topics

and I believe everybody should want to XD

[pillar_anime7]

What would be some good Scripture verses to learn?