15 Life Lessons For Graduates And Beyond
A memo to graduates (and everyone else):
Graduation is a pivotal moment in a person’s life. It marks the transition from a place where most of your life is structured and determined by someone else to a place where you get to choose how you want to live, what you want to do, and who you want to be (discover how Jesus teaches us to live and prepare for eternity).
I graduated from high school 29 years ago. Here are some thoughts I wish someone had told me that can be applied to this moment and any stage of life.
1) Much of your future is not in your control.
The world changes fast, creating a lot of uncertainty. You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond to it by learning to trust the Lord.
2) Trust the Lord to lead you.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
3) Relieve yourself from the pressure of knowing and deciding what you want to do for the rest of your life.
4) Most of life is made up of small everyday moments.
How you respond in the everyday moments over a long period becomes your legacy.
5) Comparison kills contentment.
6) Answer these two questions to find your God-given purpose:
What do I have?
How can I use what I have to help others?
7) Read the Bible every day.
In my opinion, no other habit will positively impact your life like reading the Bible. Additionally, too many people dismiss the Bible as irrelevant without having read it.
8) Build a deep reverence for Jesus.
A deep reverence for Jesus impacts your relationship with God and influences how you build relationships with people.
9) Friends will come and go, but you’ll be connected to your family for life.
Be intentional about building family relationships, especially as you transition to not living at home.
10) Don’t lie.
It’s basic, but I see people do it so easily. Lying breaks trust in a relationship, whether it’s business, friendship, or family. Relationships are built on trust, and being honest builds trust.
11) Be generous with words of encouragement.
Most people live with a deficiency of encouragement. Your generosity with encouragement will be like ‘oxygen to their souls.’ Here are seven ways to build up and encourage others.
12) “Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).
Too many people follow this in reverse. They are quick to be angry, quick to speak and slow to listen.
Words spoken in anger can do much harm.
13) Don’t be arrogant.
Pride leads to a fall — eventually, but always every time. You can count on it.
Learn to humble yourself before God, and he will lift you up when the time is right.
14) “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life” (1 Thessalonians 4:11).
Too often, as a young adult, I put undue pressure on myself to want to do something big and significant. Paul teaches that a quiet life includes “minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then, people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).
15) Get to know people who have remained faithful to Jesus for decades.
These are some of the most important people for you to get to know. Ask them questions, listen, and learn what it takes to be faithful to Jesus.
You will learn that there’s a cost to remaining faithful to Jesus. But anything worthwhile has a cost.
Jesus said, “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
If you want to remain faithful to Jesus, it requires giving up your own way and following the way of Jesus. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for him, you will save it.
Wherever you are in life, I pray that God the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and earth, would give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you grow in your knowledge of God!