When you misbehaved in school, did your teacher make you write out lines on the blackboard a hundred times?

Maybe you recall having to write lines such as these over and over:

“I will not talk in class.”

“I will not run in the corridors.”

Or this famous blackboard gag from the TV show “The Simpsons”:

“I will not waste chalk” (while wasting chalk to write it).

Of course, our teachers made us do this as punishment, but there may have been method in their madness.

Science has found that writing things down—specifically by hand—significantly improves memory retention. When we write by hand, the information is “baked” into our neural pathways better than if we type the same information. And the more often we write a certain thing down, the more likely we are to remember it long-term.

I wonder if we can use these findings to help us remember God’s Word better?

Some Christians make a practice of writing out passages of Scripture to help them understand and memorize them. I’ve recently decided to adopt this practice, starting first with part of 1 Corinthians 13, known as the “Love Chapter” of the Bible.

Let’s look at the core of it, verses 4-7:

This famous passage was written by the Apostle Paul. It’s celebrated for its poetic and profound description of love, especially “agape” love, the selfless and sacrificial type of love.

You might have heard these lines read at weddings. Indeed, it’s said that if a husband and wife were to read the Bible’s Love Chapter each day of their marriage, their likelihood of divorce would plummet.

But you don’t have to be married to benefit from taking these verses to heart. They describe the attitude Christians should have toward everyone.

Why don’t you try writing out the core section of 1 Corinthians 13 each day for two weeks?

Write out each sentence slowly so you can internalize what it says about what love is supposed to look like. Make a commitment to living this out in your daily life. Let these verses become an inseparable part of your character and heart posture.

At the end of two weeks, I wonder if your loved ones, friends and co-workers will notice a change for the better in you?

Let’s hope your teachers do!

“Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.” (Proverbs 3:3)

© 2026 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.