Friday, Feb. 8, 2002

Building love and respect for scripture

By Lorraine Smith

Do you have a favorite Bible verse that you recall from your childhood? You are blessed if you come from those days when memorizing Bible verses was a part of your Sunday School experience.

I am privileged to have grown up in the 50s and 60s when children were expected to memorize a verse each week. It was part of the "7- point" record system and one of those check marks on the offering envelope. I'm convinced we need to go back to emphasizing these basics for adults as well as for children.

I credit my mother and teachers at church for instilling in me a love for the Bible through an emphasis on scripture memory. The verses I learned and "hid in my heart" built a solid foundation for my spiritual pilgrimage. Some of my favorite verses from early childhood still have meaning for me:

"God loved us and sent His Son" (1 John 4:10).

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee" (Psalm 56:3).

"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord" (Psalm 122:1).

We are building faith foundations in childhood. For example, the entire Gospel message is wrapped up in 1 John 4:10. When I memorized that verse, I did not understand the magnitude of the gift of God's Son, but the truth was embedded in my heart in those simple words, and I did understand that God loved me. Today, I accept God's love gift by faith.

Likewise, Psalm 56:3 comes automatically to my mind and my lips at times when I am fearful, even as an adult. Trust in God replaces fear in circumstances. I can apply this truth today but it began years ago when I memorized this verse as a child.

Teaching Bible verses and skills

Since my attempts to memorize scripture today require more effort, it is obvious to me that the prime time for teaching Bible verses and Bible skills is during childhood. There is a developmental "learning window" open in the hearts and minds of boys and girls ages 6-12 as they are learning to read and expanding their comprehension of words.

You may be convinced that children should memorize Bible verses, but you may be asking, "What exactly are Bible skills?" Bible skills are all of the tools a person needs to be comfortable reading, studying and using the Bible. In addition to verse memorization, Bible skills include pronouncing and learning the names of the Bible books and divisions in consecutive order, memorizing references (chapter and verse), and locating key stories and major passages in the Bible.

The end goal in teaching basic Bible skills is to capture the interest of children so they will love and respect God and His word as absolute truth for their lives.

Bible drill ministry

If you are looking for a structured way to teach Bible skills to the children in your church, consider Children's Bible Drill. Any size church can participate, no matter how large or small. Memorizing Bible verses and teaching Bible skills may be included in many of your children's ministries, but this is a way to be intentional about equipping children with Bible skills that will last a lifetime.

Children's Bible Drill is specifically designed for children in grades 4-6. In late spring of each year Children's Bible Drill (using either King James Version or New International Version) culminates in church drills, association drills and state drills. To encourage the children in grades 2-3, there is an introduction program called Bible Buddies that occurs only in the local congregation.

Tips for teaching Bible skills

Whether you are a pastor, parent, Sunday School teacher, Bible drill leader, or someone interested in improving your own Bible skills, here are some tips for teaching or learning Bible skills.

Model with enthusiasm and your personal testimony that the Bible is important to you. Adults should memorize the verses along with the children. Children need to see you reading and using the Bible.

Use repetition through a variety of learning activities.

Take the time to explain unfamiliar or new words in the verse. It is easier for children to memorize verses when they understand the language and meaning. Re-write the verse in words a child can understand.

Give the children concrete examples of how to obey or implement each verse. In the end, the application and practice of the verse is more important than the memorization.

Be aware that children differ in their abilities to memorize, so make sure each child experiences success based on his or her own ability.

Visualize your child obeying the verse and pray the Bible verse for your child by name.

Use visual, auditory and hands-on activities that will appeal to all of the learning styles of the children.

The visual learner will enjoy creating decorative Bible verse posters, placemats or cards to use at home or send to friends and relatives. Add strip magnets to your verse cards and attach them to the refrigerator, or add yarn and make a verse mobile so the children are visually reminded about the verse.

The auditory learner will learn faster and remember longer if you let him or her record the verse, or the Bible books over and over on a tape. The use of rhythm with handclaps and finger snaps and repetition of the verse in phrases also are effective activities for this learning style. Perhaps each family member could quote or read a different verse around the meal table each week.

The hands-on learner remembers best when motion is involved. The Bible books or the Bible verse can be learned while jumping rope or tossing a ball or jogging in place. Act out the verse, pantomime or use signals for the words in the verse, or role-play ways to obey the verse.

Make your approach to teaching children about the Bible fun! Add a little friendly competition between parent and child and watch the child excel every time! Set a timer and be amazed that a child will race to beat the clock. Learning sign language for a verse appeals to children of all ages. Create a game, a word search or a puzzle and your child will never be bored with learning Bible skills.

The Bible itself testifies to the value of teaching Bible skills.

Would you like to give your children a gift that will last forever, even for eternity?

"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8).

Do you worry about how your child will cope in today's wicked world?

"Thy Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Psalm 119:11).

Do you wonder if the values you are teaching will be adequate to meet their needs?

"So shall My Word be ... it shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing the purpose for which it was spoken" (Isaiah 55:11).

Do you worry about the choices your child will make?

"Thy Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:105).

Bible skills and scripture memorization are essential ingredients in a child's spiritual training.

Make it your passion to pass along the skills necessary to keep alive the thrill of discovering eternal wisdom from the Bible. If you teach Bible skills to your children, one day you will say with the apostle John, "I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth" (3 John 4).

For more information on how to begin Children's Bible Drill and/or Youth Bible Drill ministries in your church, contact Jeannie Whitehead, Bible Drill Consultant, Baptist State Convention at (800) 395-5102, Ext. 444 or jwhitehead@bscnc.org.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - Lorraine Smith is minister of childhood education at Green Street Baptist Church in High Point.)

Write a Tar Heel Voices letter

biblical@biblicalrecorder.org

biblical@biblicalrecorder.org