Scripture Memorization in Small Groups
Is there something in your life that you’ve found is easier to do with others rather than on your own? Perhaps exercising, studying, or getting chores done is easier for you when you’re with others. Working together has probably helped you go further and stay motivated longer in some instances than if you’d just been on your own. Picture a flock of geese traveling together over amazing distances, working together, sharing the load, encouraging one another to keep flying. Working with others toward a common goal is a powerful tool.
Working with others to memorize Scripture can be a means of helping you meet your memorization goals. Group rather than individual memorization provides an accountability system for members, a “positive peer pressure” to keep going. Someone will be there to remind you about your desire to memorize Scripture. Just knowing they will be asking you how you’re doing will often be enough to keep you on track. Memorizing Scripture with a small group will provide you with opportunities to bond through the shared experience of memorizing a passage. You can encourage one another with what is working for you and help you get back on track when you miss your goals. Memorizing with others will give you someone to talk to about how the passage you’ve all memorized is changing the way you each think, feel, and act. You’ll end up building on everyone’s experiences, growing even deeper as you learn from the others in your group. Speaking Scripture is a core part of engaging with the Bible.
There are many ways your small group could memorize Scripture together:
- Memorize one key verse from each week’s passage or just the key verse from a book of the Bible that you’ve been studying.
- Challenge one another to memorize a longer passage of Scripture as a goal for the group (e.g., Romans 12 or the book of Ephesians).
- In preparation for an upcoming Bible study, memorize some key verses from the book or topic that you’ll be studying in preparation.
- Find a song that your group could learn that uses the words from the passage you are studying (check out the Singing Scripture Resources page for help in finding songs).
- Play a Scripture memory game together as a group.
You’ll need to experiment with your group to see what best works for everyone. Make the process fun and encouraging, not a race or something to feel guilty about. There is no pride in Scripture memory—whoever memorizes the most isn’t a better Christian. Memorizing Scripture is about meeting God, soaking in his Word, and letting him change you. If you or others fall behind, it will be best to encourage them that they can continue and to not give up. Any memorizing is better than none. Memorizing Scripture as a group will not only change you, it will change your group as well.
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© Phil Collins, Ph.D., 2014. This material was created in partnership with the Taylor University Center for Scripture Engagement.