As fathers, mothers, and leaders of our family it is our responsibility to train our children to make good choices and know truth. At Baylor University I pledged a fraternity where each member had a page of information about them that we were to memorize. It included their hometown, major, fraternity family tree, and anything else that they wanted us to know. We were constantly quizzed on these pages and had to know every word on every members page. It so happened that most of the members also listed their favorite Bible verses and I learned more than 100 verses during my pledgeship. What I found was these verses stuck. They were at the front of my mind and impacted my thoughts, my decisions, and my actions every day. Following my pledgeship I wrote my favorite verses into a notebook, added the many new verses that I had learned, and added new verses that I was finding each day that impacted me. I began reviewing and repeating these to myself each morning so that they stayed in my mind. Of all the things I learned during my pledgeship, memorizing scripture changed my life and continues to make a difference today. As a member I had new pledges memorize Psalms 119:9 and verse 11. Psalms 119:9 says “How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word.” Verse 11 says “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against you.” As I met with pledges I would encourage them to use this opportunity to allow God’s word to penetrate their minds and change their lives.
As parents we should model and encourage the same with our children. There are many programs that your churches offer to help in this area. I was particularly impressed with the Awana’s programs at our church and was amazed at the number of Bible verses our children knew before they even went to school. We also had a verse for the day that we could simply read and review with our kids before bed. As part of our rites of passage along with our families vision, mission and core values, I have our children memorize verses that led to these statements of direction and truth. These are examples of a few ways that you can help your children to treasure God’s word. These practices and not just for kids, but are even more important for us. We need our minds to be saturated in God’s word to encourage, inspire, convict, and guide us in truth as we lead our lives in our businesses, community and families. We must first attend to and protect our own minds so that we can lead our family.
How can a young man keep his way pure? Thy word I have treasured in my heart so that I may not sin against thee. Psalms 119 – 9,11