When I first came to know Jesus, I attended a class at church for new believers. Each week we learned about a spiritual discipline to assist us in our walk with Christ.

The topic I struggled with the most was Scripture memorization. If my Christian life required memorizing Bible verses, then with my faulty memory, I was in big trouble!

As the years passed in my journey with the Lord, I’ve come to appreciate my need to hide God’s Word in my mind and heart. I’ve valued the ability to refer to comforting or convicting verses, even if I didn’t have a Bible in front of me. The benefit of making Scripture part of who I am far outweighed the effort needed to learn the words and location of each verse.

Children are like sponges. But it’s up to us to ensure that the information they absorb will have an eternal benefit. Learning Scripture for ourselves provides the ideal opportunity to include a child. Here are a few suggestions to help the children in your life memorize Scripture—and help yourself, too.

• Music

Allow music to help you both remember words that might otherwise be long-forgotten. Consider familiar tunes such as Mary Had a Little Lamb or You Are My Sunshine. Remember the Itsy Bitsy Spider or The Wheels on the Bus?

• Scrambled Words

Write each word of the verse on a separate piece of paper and lay out the words in order. Read it several times. Then mix them up and try to place them back in the right order!

• Missing Words

Take those same papers and lay out the verse in order. Read the verse aloud. Don’t forget to include a piece of paper with the verse “address.” Remove one word and read it aloud again. Repeat until you know the verse without any visual word prompts.

As you make a regular practice of memorizing Scripture, enlist a child and make it a joint effort!

What other ways can you think of to make memorizing Scripture fun?