If you feel pressured by anyone to "memorize" the Word of God, do not feel guilty when you cannot do this. Everyone can memorize the words having read a verse over and over again. However we cannot memorize the entire Bible, or it is very rare. What we can all do is learn the principles and commands and remember those.
God never told us to "memorize", I know He would not have said this because we could not memorize Hebrew.
He told us to hide His word away in our hearts. Christ is the Word He is the embodiment of His Word, the Bible. We are to hide away in our hearts the principles and commands in the Bible, not the exact words as we see in English.
We read English to learn but it is the concepts and commands that we remember. And Christ reminds us of His principles when we cannot bring up the exact English words.
John 14:25-26 "…25 All this I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you."
Modern Christianity has pressured people to memorize words as though it is the only way to know Christ. It is not the Words only that we know, It is Christ Who we know, it is understanding His heart and with wisdom using what He has told us from His Word.
John 14:26
"26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you."
It is good to continually read the Word of God to learn the heart of God, it does not have to be memorization of the English words, but through a continual learning and deep knowledge of the heart of God that keeps us walking close to Him.
It is not wrong to memorize but it is not necessary to intimately know God. I know in my own life I cannot keep particular words in my head or even addresses of verses in the Bible, but concepts I know very well. I continually look up the concepts I know in the English Bible to convey to others where it is found.
In short, do not be discouraged if you find yourself attempting to memorize but keep having to continually revisit the words as written in our English language. If you know Christ and He lives in you, then you can look up what you need when you need it. Also, even if we do not have chapter and verse but we know the principle we can still speak with authority that something is true according to God's Word.
If we want to prove to someone who wants to know we can go and look it up again to give the chapter and verse.
1 John 5:2-4 "…2 By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and keep His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith."
I see nowhere in any version of the Bible a command to memorize God's Word in any language. We are to Hide His Word away in our hearts, He is there to remind us of what we read. He has also given us many resources to look up the words that help us find the verses.
Often I will type in the google search a few words from the verse I need or the concept with the word "Bible" at the end and the verse comes right up. God is so wonderful in providing us these resources to find what we need to prove that what we say is from God's Word. Of course, it is important to convey the context of a verse so as not to misinterpret meaning.
Far too many people take verses out of context to prove a point that is not even valid. They will claim things based on one verse out of context to make God say what they want Him to say. This is sinful and dangerous.
When we read a verse or phrase we must go to the entire chapter to see who God was speaking to and what He was conveying, not according to our desires or western mindset.
2 John 1:6 "2 John 1:6
And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the very commandment you have heard from the beginning, that you must walk in love."
The only way we can rightly divide the word is if we are honest and we are willing to give up what others have told us and believe only God.
We have many teachers now who are spreading false doctrine because they are not honest, they are attempting to fit into the culture more than they care what God really meant.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 "…2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4 So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.…"
Do not just believe people, test what they say according to the word, making God more important than the friendship of others.
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