7 Motivations to Memorize Scripture

　　Growing up in the church, leaders and teachers told us how we needed to memorize scripture. As young kids, there would be games and prizes for memorization, and sometimes parents would reinforce this at home. The first scripture I memorized (at around five years old) was,

　　“I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13.

　　Of course, being a kid, I thought this meant I could fly like Superman. One of the most important questions we can ask is, “Why?” We all remember when our kids started asking this question incessantly. We’d tell them to do something, and there would be an endless depth of “why?” questions.

　　Reading and memorizing Scripture is such a central part of our Christian walk that we can begin to simply assume or participate without digging a little deeper into the why. Participating in religious duty or traditions without pure motivation corrupts the act. God wants us to obey from the heart. He cares about both the act and the motive together. For instance, if we memorize scripture to know more than others, that’s pride and defeats the purpose. To center us on pure and right motives, here are seven non-legalistic reasons to memorize Scripture.