25 Scriptures to Start Memorizing with Your Kids Today

Motherhood is flying by. It seems just yesterday I was postpartum-weeping with a fussy newborn in my arms. Now, my oldest is nearly a decade old, which leaves me just 412 Saturdays left with him. (I counted.)

Of all the things I hope to accomplish in this brief window of time with my children, at the very top is packing their little minds and hearts full of God’s word. Scripture memorization: it’s not as pressing as deadlines for spring sports, not as glamorous as dance recitals, doesn’t feel as urgent as replacing the shoes that are too-tight and worn down.

And yet. What will never change?

God’s Word.

What brings hope in the dark times to come?

God’s Word.

What is a guide when you’re lost, a friend when you’re lonely, a rock when you’re shaken?

God’s Word.

The habit of Scripture memorization with your kids is one of the very best traditions to start in the family! And truly, it only takes minutes a day.

Here are 25 Bibles verses that are great for Scripture memorization with beginners or young children.

1. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2. Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
3. Psalm 27:1a The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
4. John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
5. John 10:11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
6. Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
7. Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
8. Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
9. Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
10. Matthew 6: 33 But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Here are a few slightly longer verses for Scripture memorization with your kids.

11. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
12. John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
13. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
14. I John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
15. Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
16. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
17. Psalm 8:4 What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
18. Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
19. Romans 8: 38-39 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here are some wonderful Bible passages to learn and memorize as a family.

Keep in mind that young children are capable of memorizing much more than we think! Their little brains aren’t old like ours!

20. John 1: 1-14
21. I Corinthians 13: 1-13
22. Psalm 1
23. Psalm 100
24. Psalm 103
25. Matthew 6: 9-13 (The Lord’s Prayer)

Written for FaithGateway by Jessica Smartt, author of Memory-Making Mom.

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Your Turn

What verses have you memorized with your kids or grandkids? Come share with us!