Middle-aged adults need constant reminders of what God wants them to do with the past, present, and future. What better way to always have those Scripture reminders with them whenever needed than to have them hidden in their hearts … memorized.
Scripture Good for Memory & Reflection by Middle-Aged Adults
While Scripture contains many applicable verses good for middle-aged adults to commit to memory and reflect on, perhaps focusing in on a whole book of the Bible would help them stay more centered on what they most need at this time in their lives. The Book of Philippians has many passages quite applicable to this age. You might want to suggest teachers of middle-aged adult classes encourage memorization of key passages in conjunction with a group study on Philippians.
Following are some passages from Philippians and how they tie in with the past, present and future realities of middle-aged adults.
Phil. 1:4-6 – God’s not finished with them yet. He will continue to be faithful.
Phil. 1:9-11 – Get in touch with what is most important.
Phil. 1:21-24 – To die is gain but God won’t take you until He’s done with you here.
You’ll find more passages from Philippians suggested in the Scripture Memorization Discipleship Guide, with some additional thoughts about middle-aged adults dealing with the past, present, and future. This resource also looks at other age levels, along with exploring benefits and means of memorizing God’s Word.
Getting Middle-Aged Adults to Memorize Blocks of Verses
You will notice that the suggested passages are blocks of verses. The fuller context of key verses can be most helpful for meditating on its meaning.
While the lives of middle-aged adults can be quite busy and they might not feel they have the time to memorize one verse albeit several, if the verses are relevant to their current needs, they might be more prone to giving it a chance. If done in conjunction with a study of the verses, either on their own or as a group, they might find it more motivating to memorize them. Some of these adults might already have memorized or be familiar with one of the verses in these blocks of verse and so they would merely be adding on to what they already know.
Teachers need to be ready with suggestions of ways for adults to memorize Scripture.