Here’s How Memorizing Proverbs Transformed Tim Tebow’s Life

Published: May 29, 2025

By Mallory Mattingly

For former NFL star Tim Tebow, memorizing the Bible changed his life.

When Tebow was a child, his parents had him memorize a bunch of different scriptures, specifically from the book of Proverbs.

“Oh, so many,” Tebow said on Jordan Peterson’s podcast. “The one I just mentioned — ‘The greatest among you must be a servant, whoever exalts himself be humbled, whoever humbles himself will be exalted.’ That was one of the first verses I had to memorize, but then we started going through a lot of Proverbs. My dad really believes in Proverbs, and he would press it into us. I’m so grateful now.”

Tebow continued: “But randomly, I’ll be reading the Bible or I’ll be with teammates or friends, and we’ll be looking at it, and I’ll be like, ‘I didn’t memorize this,’ and all of a sudden — because I had to memorize it to play games. I didn’t want to, but I had to to play, and I would be willing to do whatever it took — now, I’ll be like, ‘Wait, a second, I memorized this.’ Just the other day, we were reading in Proverbs 5 or 6, and I’m sitting there, and I’m like “Wait, I know so much of this cause I had to memorize it.”

Tebow then proceeded to recite Proverbs 6. Afterwards, he explained that he memorized it not because he wanted to but because his parents had him do it. Today, he’s grateful for it.

“…there was such a plan from my parents putting these thoughts into our head,” Tebow explained. “Eventually, when it’s in your head and it’s in your heart, God can bring it to your memory.”

Lately, Tebow has used his faith and platform to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves, specifically kids trapped in exploitative situations.

“So grateful for all the support, the voices raised, and the kind words following our conversation on the Shawn Ryan Show about the evil of child sexual exploitation,” he wrote on Instagram.

“Homeland Security Investigations has proven to be a reliable backbone in this fight. We are honored to play a small role in supporting their team,” he added. “Today, our team is back in D.C., meeting with lawmakers to continue the fight and to push forward the bipartisan Renewed Hope Act.”

Tebow concluded the post with a challenge for his followers to get in the fight and help put a stop to child sexual exploitation.

“Will you join us in prayer, and take action if you haven’t made your voice heard yet?” he asked.