When I was a kid, I used to do really well at memorizing all the Bible verses. My childhood church often had memorization contests and I often would be one of the kids that would complete those challenges. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, I lost the desire to memorize verses. I honestly haven’t purposefully memorized Scripture since Bible classes in college.
This year has been a really tough year for everyone. For me, it’s been sobering to watch the world around me fall apart from the unknowns of the pandemic, to social unrest, to divisive politics, to crazy catastrophic weather events. Despite all of that and all of the changes, there is one constant through all of this and that is my trust in the Lord.
The Lord was really drawing me this year to be closer to Him. This year, I’ve been doing my best to study different books of the Bible with She Reads Truth and journal the Word and my prayers in my Give Me Jesus Journal. However, I felt like there was something more that I needed to do, but couldn’t quite pinpoint what was missing.
Enter the “Sermon on the Mount Challenge.”
As I was scrolling Instagram, a particular Instagram story popped out. It was my blogger friend Renee who was quoting Scripture that she was trying to memorize. I did a little digging and discovered that she had started a challenge to memorize Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which is found in Matthew 5-7. That’s when I knew exactly what I was missing– I needed to start memorizing Scripture. I wasn’t exactly sure why I was being led, but as I started my memorization journey, the Lord started showing me key phrases:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the humble,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.– Matthew 5:3-10 (CSB)
With all of the unrest in the world, I started thinking. What if I started purposefully and intentionally incorporating these beatitudes in my personal life? What would happen?
Every morning, I’d review the beatitudes in my head– poor in spirit (meaning empty of one’s self to fully give themselves to Christ), hungering and thirsting for Christ’s righteousness, pure in heart, peacemakers– and ask myself how I could apply those concepts in real life. In doing this, I remember to see people as souls and image-bearers of God. I remember that they are people whom God loves. And when I remember that God loves people, I remember to love them too.
This doesn’t always come easy. Especially since when the devil knows you’re trying to honor and serve God, he just starts throwing darts where you’re weak. And I can certainly testify to that! I just have to be super aware of my shortcomings in order to combat that spiritual warfare. While this is super challenging
Let me encourage you to join in because honestly, it’s never too late to start. We may be a little ahead, but that’s okay! There’s a lot of time to catch up and it’s not about how you start– it’s how you finish the journey. You can find the challenge on Instagram by searching the hashtag: #SermonOnTheMountByHeart. Let us know if you’ll be joining in and we will be sure to cheer you on!
Challenge accepted! 🙂 The Sermon on the Mount has always been my favorite chapters in all Scripture. It really is a blueprint for living a Christian life. I’ve always been horrible at memorizing Bible verses – I’m better at knowing the big picture and context of a chapter/book, but chapter and verse? Always been my Achilles heel.
This was an excellent post, Kaycee! Well done. And some timely reminders too – “It’s been sobering to watch the world around me fall apart from the unknowns of the pandemic, to social unrest, to divisive politics, to crazy catastrophic weather events. Despite all of that and all of the changes, there is one constant through all of this and that is my trust in the Lord.” Totally agree! And this hit me right in the heart – “In doing this, I remember to see people as souls and image-bearers of God. I remember that they are people whom God loves. And when I remember that God loves people, I remember to love them too.”
I’ll go see if I can find the challenge on IG. Thanks for posting!
Thanks, Lauralyn! I totally get ya about memorization. I’m much better at the big picture, but I’m so thankful that God is pointing out these details, especially lately! Hope you find the challenge helpful!