I always considered memorization a relatively private thing and didn’t really want to share in front of the whole body. It was probably encouragement from a couple of friends that brought me to realize that it could be a benefit and an encouragement to the body. I’m still always nervous and even still a little hesitant to do it. I never want to be a show-off and I have a hard time receiving praise from others. I want them to praise God and be blessed by His word being spoken. I’ve done a handful of recitations and have gained an appreciation for presenting God’s word and not just reciting it – using all the gifts that He has given me to really showcase the word. One of the things that really blessed me was reciting passages that were monologues or had some dialog in them. I could put myself in the speaker’s voice and feel the force of the words from the exhortation of Moses in Deuteronomy 30 to the vitriol of the crowds in Luke 23 to the boldness of Stephen in Acts 7. Another blessing of reciting large passages of scripture was the transformation of otherwise “wasted time”. I would memorize during commutes or memorize during long runs while I was training for marathons. Instead of grousing about the commute or wanting to quit on a run, I would get fully absorbed in a passage of scripture. That might seem like a small thing, but the Lord was certainly doing a work on my heart and He redeemed that time.