Bible Verses Learning Mistakes to Avoid - Bible verses for everyone and for everything

Do not set yourself up to fail before you even get started. There are so many ways to learn and memorize Bible verses and you need to find something that works for you, and that allows you to make progress at your own pace.

Many will tell you what you should be doing, offer a surefire method for memorizing lots of verses really quickly. Chances are, they will be telling you to use their method or tell you to use a method that they don’t even use themselves. Take their suggestion into consideration, but develop your own method. You know what you can handle, and you know what you can reasonably do. Challenge yourself, but not with so tough of a challenge that you give up when you don’t succeed.

This post will deal with Bible verse learning mistakes to avoid so that your goals become achievable and measurable.

Biting off more than you can chew

We all know what happens when we take a bite that is too big. We end up with a mouthful of food that we can’t chew. Our mouth gets stuck open and we have a difficult time closing it. With some fancy jaw maneuvers, we can sometimes get through it, but it leaves us with a sore mouth and might even take away our appetite. If we can’t maneuver through it, we end up spitting it out. Either way, if anyone is watching us, it makes for quite an awkward sight and it leaves us regretting having taken such a big bite.

Is this comparison apt for memorizing verses? Absolutely. If you take on more than you can chew, you will regret having started that way, and may not feel like trying it again, even in smaller bite sizes. Memorize bite size Bible verses.

There are a number of verses that are really long. They are good verses, with an excellent message and great truth. But, starting with them, might not be the best strategy for you.

There are also a number of short or shorter verses that are equally good verses, with an excellent message and great truth. These will be a little easier to tackle, and give you confidence as you start out with this challenge.

As you develop your strategy and start memorizing verses, it will become easier for you. Training your brain to memorize verses is like training your muscles to lift weights. The more that you exercise your muscles, the easier it becomes easier to lift weights. The more that you exercise your brain, the easier it becomes to memorize.

Rapid Fire: Too many, too quickly

Have you ever tried to complete a challenge under the pressure of time? What tends to happen? You might start off well, but it does not take long before you start making mistakes. You might even get to the point where you eventually become unhinged and just can’t continue. Or you become frazzled and although you finish, you made a lot more mistakes than you normally would do the task without time pressure.

There are some who will try to tell you that you need to learn one verse per day, or one verse every two days, or one verse per week, or… whatever strategy they would impose upon you. That strategy might work for them, but will it work for you? Remember that If you begin at a rate that is too intense, you will end up falling behind your own schedule, and get discouraged, and give it up.

Personally, I like memorizing one verse per week. I suggest a verse memorizing strategy in this post and I encourage you to read it. The strategy is adaptable, whether you decide to memorize one verse per week, or every two weeks, or one per month.

Trying to Keep Up

Pear pressure affects us in all aspects of our life. When we learn to deal with it, and realize how detrimental it can be, we are able to live a lot better when we get out from under its slavery. You might be under pressure to memorize verses in order to keep up with those around you. But don’t fall into that trap, it can be a burden heavier than you can bear.

Some people have the capacity to memorize and retain information with very little effort. Those who have a “photographic memory” have a great advantage over those of us who have a hard time memorizing and remembering things. If I had a competition with someone to see how many verses I could learn in a week, I know that I would lose. My brain does not work that way, and it usually takes me a few times hearing someones name before I really know it.

I have worked with children for over 30 years, teaching them the Word of God, and memorizing verses is one aspect of what we teach them. It is very evident that there is a marked difference in the capacity of children to memorize verses. Some kids can read the verse once, close their eyes and repeat it word for word. Other children need to review it, and work at it for days or even weeks before they can recite them.

If I tried keeping up with others (even some of these children), I would get discouraged. So I don’t try to keep up with them and I encourage you to understand that not everyone can memorize at the same pace. Don’t try to keep up pace with someone else. If you want to work at it with someone that’s great but find someone who memorizes at the same pace as you.

Choose your own pace

At the end of it all, as you begin your verse learning or verse memorizing journey, choose your own pace. Find a rhythm that works for you. Challenge yourself, but make your goals attainable. Whether you decide to memorize one verse per day, or one verse per week, or one verse per month the important thing is that you are memorizing the Scriptures. Please see this post to find out about the long term benefits of memorizing verses (link pending).

By avoiding these common Bible verses learning mistakes you will find that as time passes, you will have memorized more verses than you ever thought possible.