The older we get, the harder it is to remember things. The processing power of the brain peaks in our late teens. The ability to remember names and faces peaks in our late twenties. Our “working memory” peaks in our thirties. Because of the fall of man, death entered the world, so the processing power of our brains begins to diminish as soon as we reach adulthood. With healthy aging, the hippocampus shrinks by about 13% from age 30 to 80. Chemicals in the brain, like dopamine, also reduce gradually over the years. The connection between cells (synapses) diminish over time. Let’s not forget to say thank you to Adam and Eve for all of this when we see them in heaven.
But the diminishment of our brain power does not mean that our intelligencediminishes as we age. Although the raw power of the processor may decline over the years, the data we download into the brain can continue to increase until the day we die. While the speed and working memory of the brain declines, our knowledge can actually keep increasing. Vocabulary, emotional intelligence, and other “software” we upload into the brain can keep improving until very late in life.
It appears to me that Donald Trump, for example, is a much better thinker as he nears age 80 than he was in his 50s or 60s. He has always been “big brained,” but he makes better decisions now. His thinking has even improved markedly in the last six years. The 2026 version of Trump’s brain is much better than the 2020 version. It appears he has learned a lot, even gaining the ability to course correct (a little bit).
By contrast, Biden’s cognitive decline while in office was legendary. The attempted coverup of his brain problem was one of the worst scandals in American history. What made his choices so disastrous for the country was actually not even the decline of the processor, which reached ridiculous levels for any sitting President. But it was the fact that he uploaded corrupt software into his brain for all the years of his public life. That was the real scandal. He imbibed the Democratic Party Platform (abortion, LGBTQIA, feminism, democratic socialism, big government control, etc.) for a lifetime, so when his processor stopped functioning properly and he was flying on autopilot, the autopen spit out the party line. The danger Biden posed to the country was actually a life-long software problem, not an end-of-life hardware problem.
What we put into our brains is what we become. What we put in is eventually what we put out into the world. If a guy listens to everything Joe Rogan has to say, then he’ll become a little funnier for it and he’ll probably develop some common sense, but he’ll also have the spiritual wherewithal of a fifth-grader in a CCD class. If a woman watches The View everyday, then she’ll develop a strong antipathy for masculinity, capitalism, and biblical Christianity. But if men and women listen to voices like Rod D. Martin and Wes Huff in the public square, they listen to their pastors in the pulpits, and they listen to the people God has placed in their lives—men being sharpened like iron by other godly men (Proverbs 27:17, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14) and women being counseled by other godly women (Proverbs 31:26, Titus 2:3-5), then the fruit of our lives will be good. You are what you eat.
Now, remind me why I decided to write about all this. Oh yeah, I remember. Church, we’ve got to get back to studying and memorizing the Bible. We need to keep memorizing Scripture until the day we die!
I have been amazed to watch the sheer brain power of our kids as they learn the A-Z Bible verses. Remember when our brains worked like that? But let’s say your brain’s processor has diminished 13%, or maybe 30%. So what? God has designed our brains to be capable of life-long learning. Of course, diseases like Alzheimer’s, which are a result of the fall of man, can disrupt our learning, but healthy brains keep adding knowledge. God designed the human brain to never run out of storage capacity. So, even if it takes us a little longer to cut new pathways in the brain, why should that keep us from doing so at all?
And here’s the kicker: Memory work actually slows the shrinkage of the brain! Some adults take to puzzles and gameshows to keep their brains sharp. That’s good. But how much better to use God’s Word, sharper than any two-edged sword, to keep the brain sharp?
Our kids are adding 26 verses to the unlimited storage of their brain’s capacity. We can’t beat them in the speed with which they will be able to do it, but why not join them? Print this email and start plodding. Your spirit will be better for it, and even your brain itself will retain more of its functionality for putting it to work. Make Bible memory a life-long habit, not a memory, fading into the past.
The memory work actually becomes fun as you get into it. Moreover, it becomes useful in a variety of ways. For example, when I get to the painful part of a run, my mind will naturally default to calculating how much distance and time I have left to go. That only makes me think about the pain. But if I control my mind to start quoting some verses, I get distracted from the pain and before I know it, there’s the finish line. Scripture memory can keep us healthy—mind, body, and soul.
Let’s get it:
A—All Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Timothy 3:16)
B—Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved (Acts 16:31)
C—Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right (Ephesians 6:1)
D—Do everything without complaining or arguing (Philippians 2:14)
E—Every word of God proves true (Proverbs 30:5)
F—For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23)
G—Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19)
H—He alone is my rock and salvation (Psalm 62:2)
I—I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
J—Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8)
K—Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies (Psalm 34:13)
L—Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength (Mark 12:30)
M—Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4)
N—No man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24)
O—O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you (Psalm 63:1)
P—Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Q—Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19)
R—Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again, rejoice (Philippians 4:4)
S—Seek first the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)
T—Trust in the Lord with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5)
U—Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain (Psalm 127:1)
V—I am the vine; you are the branches (John 15:5)
W—Walk as children of Light (Ephesians 5:8)
X—Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Savior (2 Samuel 22:47)
Y—You are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)
Z—Do not be lacking in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord (Romans 12:11)
Memorize the Bible. “Sin will keep you from this Book, or this book will keep you from sin.” I can’t remember where I heard that, but I know I heard that somewhere.
With Joy in Christ,
Pastor Jeff
