Years ago I decided to choose 100 Bible verses to memorize. My goal was not to find my favorite random verses or typical feel-good verses but to choose 100 verses I'd want hidden in my heart if I were somewhere without access to a Bible. I wanted them to equip me to have gospel conversations and represent a healthy cross-section of biblical truth. With more than 31,000 verses in the Bible, choosing only 100 was a challenge.
Determining topic categories helped me focus on verses related to these subjects:
The Bible as God's Word
The Ten Commandments (The Law)
The Consequences of Sin (Breaking the Law)
The Value of the Law in Recognizing Sin
The Need for Repentance and Faith
Salvation in Jesus Christ Alone
God Evident in Creation and in Our Conscience
God's Role in Salvation
Evidence of Salvation
The Mandate to Witness
Encouragement to Witness
To keep the verses handy, I created a brochure with all of them. I added a few comments about memorizing Scripture and sharing the gospel and listed a few recommended resources so that the brochure might be helpful to others. Every year or two since then, over the last 15-20 years, I've tweaked the brochure in minor ways. Since I recently made some revisions, I wanted to share it here for anyone interested.
Feel free to download the PDF and use or distribute it in any way you wish. It is laid out in a way that lets you to print it on the front and back of a single legal-size sheet of paper and then fold it twice into a brochure that is 8.5" tall and 3.5" wide.
At the time I selected these verses years ago, I was using the 1984 New International Version translation of the Bible, so all quotations use that translation. If I was doing it all over today, I'd probably use a different translation. The translation you memorize from is your call to make, so use your favorite.
Caveat: I'm aware that some verses in the brochure are only quoted in part, and some may be used far from their original biblical context. Again, if I was doing it all over today, I'd likely change a few things. Still, I think there's value in its current state.
In addition to the brochure, I have used the Remember Me Bible memory app on my phone for many years. You can easily add whatever verses you want to the app from any translation and use its many tools to review the verses regularly. I review all these verses and more in the app every other week, occasionally adding a new verse in the app as desired.
The Bible is God's Word for all people in all cultures for all time. If we can remember songs, movie quotes, favorite stories, phone numbers, addresses, work details, sports statistics, past conversations, and countless other things, shouldn't we also devote intentional time and energy to memorizing God's Word? It only takes a few minutes daily to continually learn and review. And we must review! If we don't, we eventually forget what we previously knew.
Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." I pray that you will be diligent in memorizing God's Word, not only for your benefit, but for the good of those with whom you have gospel conversations. Perhaps this brochure can help.