An Invitation To Learn His Word

For many years, our family has memorized passages of Scripture at Christmas time. Usually around Thanksgiving each child chooses or is given a passage that represents some part of the Gospel story, whether about who God & Jesus are from Colossians 1, John 1, or Isaiah 53, about who we are from Romans 3 or Ephesians 2, or about how we are changed because of Jesus’ coming. The point of the month is for each child to learn from a different place in scripture the truths of the Gospel story and then share when we all gather together Christmas morning. Most children have their passages fully memorized, and much rejoicing and cheering occurs.

As this year has begun, Troy and I decided to start something new. While I work with the children to learn verses here and there throughout the year, I don’t have a set plan, an intentional method to learn passages. Instead of working purposefully on just one passage of scripture during the year at Christmas, we decided to embark on a family learning plan. We are seeking to learn a passage a month over the course of this year with the culmination being at Christmas this year.

I wanted to invite you to join us if you would like! Now, here’s my plan: I am choosing passages of about 7 -10 verses to learn. The longer passages are familiar to my children because some may have already learned them in previous years as their Christmas passages. We will simply set as a goal to learn ~2 verses a week over the course of a month. At the end of the month, we will have a celebration. We may celebrate with a party here at the house, go to ice cream, a restaurant, or whatever seems to work that month. The point is to celebrate! These are big feats for any of us and we need to delight in each other and what we are learning together.

How do we memorize with littles? I have found that my littlest ones often memorize much faster (certainly faster than I will!) So please don’t limit your child on the front end, just keep repeating the verses day after day. We will probably set some verses to quirky songs or rhythms. We also like to put crazy motions and act the words out to help us remember, so let laughter and fun set the pace. If my children were in preschool, I would select 1 or 2 primary verses out of the passage and seek for the child to memorize those perfectly and then allow the joining in on words and phrases as they can remember words from the rest of the passage. They really will learn more than you believe!

For my oldest children, we are offering some high incentives for the passages they choose to learn. The reality is we support their college lives anyway, so dangling some gift cards or meeting of wants as an incentive seems to make it fun for them. I remember hearing John Maxwell years ago share how he paid his children for every book they read as long as they could have an intelligent discussion with him about it. The power of incentive works for our kids in much the same way a bonus works in a job, so we are offering some bonuses!

What are we memorizing? I have selected some passages that answer Gospel truths, illuminate the character of God, highlight His promises, or bring comfort when we are anxious or fearful. I want His truth to answer their needs in their times of worry and doubt. I want verses to come to mind years from now. I want to use these verses as launching pads to discuss the big things of who He is, what the Gospel means in every day moments, apply it throughout the month to the micro moments with them, make His word relevant for them personally. These may not be verses you want to use and that’s ok! My encouragement is just join us, pick some verses, and let’s do this together! The strength of walking with other like minded Warriors who will lift you arms when you get weary this year (and we all are going to get weary or discouraged!) will be invaluable! There will be months that I won’t get it all done; I may not get anything done at times! Life can be complicated. But I will desperately need Arm Lifters to remind me of the grace of beginning again and encourage me to start anew. So without further explanations:

January: Ephesians 2:1-10

February: 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8a

March: Psalm 34:1-10 (and there is a song for this one I think by Shane and Shane?)

April: Romans 3:21-26

May: Colossians 1:15-20 - prewedding month for us so I’m anticipating crazy!

June: John 3:14-18 - wedding month for us so I need bandwidth!

July: Isaiah 43:1-7

August: John 15:1-11

September: Philippians 4:4-9

October: 1 Peter 1:3-9

November: Psalm 100 or Psalm 23

December: Isaiah 9:6-7; Review the year 3 months per week

My plan includes reviewing a previous month each month to keep the verses fresh. Encourage your older kids to write these verses on paper or cards and put them where they will see them often. Refrigerator doors and bathroom mirrors are great places for displays. Allow yourself to be the worst memorizer in the bunch - my children love to encourage me when I struggle with verses they learn with ease.

But most importantly, this endeavor is just that: a grand experiment loaded with God’s grace and mercy and not weighed down by a burdensome checklist for performance. Do not make this anything more than open handed desire to love and learn His Word with your family. Have fun! Rejoice in what you do!