The Teaching Power Of The Word

teaching - The Teaching Power of the Word

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4

We often recommend the memorization of 1 Corinthians 13 for couples who desire to deepen their spiritual growth together. This “Love Chapter” is filled with God’s teaching on the characteristics of divine love, and hiding it away in your heart helps make the reality of it a lot closer. Couples also benefit from memorizing Scripture passages that speak directly to their needs. Not only individual verses, but large passages of Scripture are important. We recommend Matthew 5–7, John 15, Romans 5–8, Colossians 3, Hebrews 12, and James 1.

We also encourage couples to “personalize” the passages they read and memorize. God delights in hearing His own Word, especially when we use it to express to Him our own desires and emotions. To do this, take the sections you memorize and add personal pronouns wherever possible.

Turning Scripture passages into mental pictures helps us to visualize the truth and turn memorization into meditation. Choosing to dwell on scriptural pictures of God’s truth can give us sustained victory in our thought life. We can learn to build these mental pictures into key truths by rehearsing in our mind what patience or kindness might look like. This helps remind us of what true love is.

An additional dimension of blessing from our meditations on God’s Word is its impact on the heart of the One who wrote the Scriptures. Imagine what it does to the heart of God to see His children not just being hearers of the Word but doers also. As our Scripture passage encourages, we should live out every word that proceeds from Him.

How can you and your spouse make memorization and personalization of Scripture a bigger part of your relationship?