I struggled with my self-image. I use the past tense purposefully, not because I never struggle with my self-image now, but because the days of despising myself are over. We have all been there! Even if the struggle is just the thought of “those extra few pounds make me look awful” or “I’ll just never be pretty enough” (you get the picture). Jesus is the one that changed this in me. It wasn’t an emotional kind of change, though. No, this change came from a single verse in the Bible by the grace of God.
We’ve all heard the verse, but try to hear me out and pretend you are hearing it for the first time. Proverbs 31:30 says “charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” Although I believed my struggle was physical, this verse showed me that my problem was a lack of trust in the Lord. Take a second to dwell on that, friends: the culturally prettiest woman is not who we are called to praise, but the one that fears the Lord. The woman that submits in awe to the living God who created everything deserves praise.
I memorized this verse and hold it in my heart and repeat it to myself whenever those thoughts creep in. This very first instance of depending on scripture opened my eyes to see the power it has in our lives and how I can give glory to the Father with my thought-life. I’m not the first person to have learned this and put it into practice, of course.
It’s an impressive and daunting task, memorizing scripture, and it’s hard to have enough discipline to practice, learn, and retain one verse, let alone a whole fleet of them! As hard as it may seem (and it’s truly not all that difficult), memorizing scripture is important to our private lives a well as our communities.
The importance of memorizing and knowing the Bible is that it is useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).Another reason to memorize scripture is that we are called to it! Colossians 3:16 commands us to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” The Bible is not meant to be something we think about only every so often, but something that we dwell on throughout our busy days filled with hardship and temptation.
When we memorize parts of the Bible, we bring them to the front of our minds. So when, for example, I am not honoring the Lord with my thoughts and dwell too much on myself rather than Him, it is useful for me to have Proverbs 31:30 memorized. I’m still working on my selfishness and other sin patterns, but this verse has changed who I am. The importance of Bible memorization is explained well in Psalm 119:11 when it states “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Memorizing scripture is an effective tool for resisting the temptations of our sin nature.
Storing up truth from the Bible in our minds changes the way we live our lives because it changes how we think. No military general would ever send men into a battle ill-equipped so why do we do that to ourselves? The Lord gave us the whole of the Bible to use as armor and weapons (Ephesians 6:10-17) to fight against our natures- just like I use Proverbs 31:30 to this day. And our examples don’t stop there.
Jesus was perfect. He did not have sin nature like we do, but He still utilizes this tactic in His own life. We see Jesus memorized scripture and put it into practice in this same way even though He was without sin. We can read Luke 4 (go do it now!) and see a perfect example of how and why we should be memorizing scripture! Fighting against our sin nature is not the only reason to memorize truth, though. It’s also important because it feeds our souls.
It is said in Matthew 4:4 that “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” We were made to live on the Word of God, not just on the things of this world. So when we allow God to change our personal lives to reflect Christ more clearly it creates a ripple effect into our fellowship with other believers.
Our actions matter. What we say and do effects not only ourselves but those around us. We need to serve our friends and loved ones as we are called (Philippians 2:4). One way to serve is to be wise and thoughtful in actions, deeds, and words using the truth found in the Bible. When we pour out not from ourselves, but from Christ and His Word, we serve others well.
Let’s serve others and strengthen ourselves to battle our sinful habits. Please don’t just read this and let it fade from your mind. I won’t let it fade from mine, either. I will continue to memorize and build up my arsenal so that I may be more like Christ. Next week we will be challenged on this topic. So dwell on the truth found in the Bible about such things. Pray that the Lord will enable you to push yourself to memorize and store up His Word in your minds. It has been a blessing in my life and I know it will be in yours as well.
What is the biggest excuse you use that gets in between you and the time it takes to memorize scripture? Pray about it, confess it to the Lord. What has to change in you for the challenge next week to be effective in your life?
Rooted and Redeemed 