Student-Written Devotionals

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10 ESV)

 

How many times have you heard the 10 Keys to Success? After the first few times of hearing it, you may begin to not listen all the way through it, or you may think they are not valuable. My question to you is this: why would we be reminded so often of these Keys to Success if they were not important, and did not have an application outside of school? Is there more to these tips than we realize, and therefore take them for granted?

 

Most of us would say no with a strong bias. We don’t want to believe that being “grateful stewards of our campus” applies to us, so we joke about it as we hear these phrases each Monday morning. However, let’s step back to think of these Keys to Success in a broader light. God has given each and every one of us a responsibility to care for His creation, and we have the ability to do this daily. In this respect, we also can be stewards to our friends and authorities by keeping our campus, or anywhere else we go, clean. For instance, we can glorify God by doing something as simple as picking up and throwing away a snack wrapper on the floor. This act takes less than one minute, yet it displays our respect for the staff that works to keep our school clean, and, in this way, we please God by respecting our authorities.

 

This may bring about some questions, one of which being, “Why does not caring for our world mean that I’m disrespectful?” While not taking great care of a place may seem like it doesn’t affect anyone, you should want to obey your authority as Christ taught us to (Romans 13:1). It may seem a small task to pick up trash or thank God for his beautiful creation, but we should desire to respect everyone that works hard to give us a good education and an even better school experience. By using these Keys to Success, we not only show our classmates, teachers, and staff the respect they deserve, we also build our experience in showing love, courtesy, and generosity to others outside of this school environment.

 

Lord, thank you for giving your only Son so we would be saved and further inspired to give freely. We pray that we would find You through our desires to serve one another, not by our own glory, but through Yours. And when we don’t want to be generous anymore, when it all feels like too much, help us to refocus our lens to see Your generosity, and inspire us to be like You when we give and serve. Amen.

 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. (1 Cor. 13:1-3 NLT)

 

Love is hard, caring is hard. Sometimes we see other people, and we may think, “I don’t really want to listen to them.” When this happens, we begin to close off our heart. We can become passive-aggressive or silent, pretending to listen, but actually developing our own points inside our heads. When we aren’t around the person, we can tend to speak poorly about him to others simply because we disagree with him. This alone can deeply wound someone and depreciate their self-worth, as they feel that they aren’t being heard or cared about. 

 

We often underestimate our words, though they are described as being a “double-edged sword.” We don’t think our words have much impact, but this is often not the case. Words can cause rumors; words can cause inexpressible pain. So how can our words not matter? It may only last one second, but even one word can cause the loss of a soul. Words are serious. Words matter. 

 

So how do we combat our desire to speak our mind, even when it is unkind? Let us make one thing clear: being kind does not mean agreeing with everyone. We can disagree with someone and still be kind. For instance, though we are all sinners, God loves us. He cares for us, although our sin is inexcusable. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that “if [he] didn’t love others, [he] would have gained nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). The Lord wants us to love others as He loves us; if it weren’t for His love, we wouldn’t have hope for eternal life with Him! 

 

Therefore, love others, even if their viewpoints are different from ours. Love others, even when we disagree with them. Love others – always. The modern portrayal of love is often fake and distant, but a believer has faith that love is so much more than a cheesy rom-com. Love is what holds communities together, and ultimately creates an unbreakable relationship with our Lord!

 

Lord, though we are human, help us to love others as ourselves. Give us the ability to be kind to others every day and to give our time and energy to loving those around us. When we disagree with others, help us to be patient and respectful; kindness goes a long way. By being kind and loving to others with different viewpoints, may we better the world over time. Help us to admit when we are wrong and to be respectful and kind to others in discussions. Most importantly, help us to love You above all else.

In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8 ESV)

 

What does it mean to be “born again?” A lot of people think that this literally means to be “born again.” However, in the biblical sense of the term, “born again” refers to the cleansing and the new life of a believer. When someone becomes a Christian, they are called to repent from their sin and live the way that Jesus lived. 

 

A physical representation of this is baptism. In baptism, the new believer is dipped into the water symbolizing their death along with Christ, and pulled out, symbolizing being cleansed from their sins and a new life. 

 

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit…” Here, Jesus touches on the importance of being spiritually born again. We cannot enter the kingdom of God without being given the gift of righteousness which we receive through the acceptance of Christ. We cannot take our old selves that hold sin into His domain. 

 

Going into the new year, this passage can be very valuable. A common phrase around this time of year is “new year, new me.” Christians, remind yourself of your rebirth, the feeling of finally being released from the bonds of sin. Encouragement from the community is incredibly powerful. Be sure to remind yourself of your path through this Christian journey, and encourage your fellow friends, family, peers, and colleagues at this time. 

 

As you continue to step further into the new year and grow in your faith, how can you live like you are truly “reborn?” If you already live like you have been born again, how can you encourage those around you to live like they’ve been born again?

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever…” (Psalm 136:1-5 ESV)
*Note: please read whole chapter for more details*

Have you ever heard of a blessing in disguise? Laura Story writes in her in song Blessings:

“‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? 

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights 

Are what it takes to know You’re near? 

And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?”

In our darkest times, we should turn to God to find solace and instead we turn to other worldly things. Laura Story shows the many ways we can see the work of Christ in our lives. For example, she says, “What if healing comes through tears?” When we don’t understand the work of Christ in our lives, our suffering may seem worse than it actually is, leading us to be ungrateful and oblivious to any blessings we’ve been given. 

In this passage, David is praising the Lord and expressing gratitude towards the Lord for everything he has done. Despite all the trials the Israelites have been put through, David acknowledges that God’s providence led them to where they are today. Through these moments, David learns in God that “these trials in life” were God’s “mercies in disguise.” Just as David grew in faith through these experiences, we, too, should attempt to keep our faith in difficult times to become closer to Christ. 

So, next time something brings you down, pray! Trust in God, knowing He has a perfect plan for you, even when we can’t see it yet. This life is full of ups and downs (and all-arounds), but we can’t let that stop us from being joyful in God and being grateful for everything he has done for us!

Lord, when life brings us to our darkest point, help us to see Your light through the pain. Give us clarity to see how You are working wonders in our life even when we cannot see it. Help us to heal through our brokenness, to find joy in the hardships, to find purpose in the pain. Most importantly, help us to love and trust You in our daily lives, through the best and the worst days. Amen.