A favorite pastime for Baptist youth used to be (I don’t know, maybe still) was memorizing Bible verses. There were competitions, prizes, pride. Of course, there is a value to remembering things. Probably 90% of medical school is memorizing. Patients appreciate their doctor’s recall ability when a diagnosis is required.
The question for us in our journey to spiritual growth is how much we merely quote people we have memorized rather than how much we know.
Have we read thoroughly, but not only that but also thought about what we read? How much of what we discuss comes from knowledge gleaned from the fruit of our knowledge plus our thinking?
Do you merely quote a sentence or a partial sentence from, say, Paul? Or perhaps you have read the entire works of Paul plus some scholarly research and thinking (like the 1,700+ pages from NT Wright I studied a few years ago) and then when you say something there is more meat to it. And it reveals your own thinking?
Repeating what you’ve memorized is child’s play. Speaking of what you know comes with maturity.
Faith Venture 
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