Memorizing by Writing

As the third in our series of practical tips to memorizing Scripture, let’s look at a fun one.  When memorizing a passage of Scripture, it is often helpful to write it.

If I am stuck on a certain passage, I will often begin to write it out two or three times.  Writing (especially if you mouth the words aloud while your write) engages more senses than just reading.  It gets more of your body active in this memorization process. The more you can do that, the easier it will be to memorize.

Remember that you need to think about what you’re writing.  If you don’t think about it, you’re simply wasting your time.

A fun idea to make the memory process into something more like a game, is to write the verse out on a whiteboard or chalkboard, and then erase one word at a time, while repeating the other words in your head.  As an illustration, in Colossians 3:16, you could write the phrase, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Read this several times, and then erase “Let” so you say “let” and then read “the word of Christ dwell in you richly.”  Go on to erase “the” and say “Let the” and read “word of Christ dwell in your richly.” Do this until all the verse has been erased and you’re repeating it entirely from memory.

If you want to have a little fun with the verse, you can write a comic strip about it, or draw pictures to help you remember some of the words.  It’s also helpful to highlight, underline, and draw pictures around your verse. This helps you remember the concepts and ideas talked about more easily.

Writing is also a good way to review your verse once you’ve memorized it.  Write out the verse on every piece of paper that lands in your lap.  Note taking, cards, letters, scrap pieces of paper, sticky notes; everywhere! Not only are you reviewing your verse, you are also planting seeds.  Remember that God’s Word can never return void.

Additionally, you can write out only the first letter of each word in the verse.  Especially if your passage is longer, I would recommend only writing out the first letter of the word, so you don’t spend two hours on it.  :)

If you are looking to use this same idea when reading the verse, This website will actually convert it for you.  After you have become fairly familiar with the verse, by using some of the other tips I have mentioned, try reading it using only the first letter of each word to spark your memory.

You’re welcome to use a combination of all of the methods that I have talked about.  You can start by reading it a couple of times, then move on to visualizing it for a bit. Finally, you can write it out a few times to really solidify it in your mind.  Then you’re done!