My life’s purpose is to bring glory to God. Whatever I end up pursuing for my career, however I raise my kids, or the grades I get in school, they should all be done to the best of my ability in order to bring praise to God’s name, not to my own. Duh, you might say, but this has been a summer of learning what it looks like day by day to strive to bring glory to the Lord’s name. This is hard for me. I feel like this is hard for anyone; society has taught us to do well for ourselves, to build up money, to get published so people know our name. This summer, through exploring more of God’s flawless character, I am starting to understand (it’s just the tip of the iceberg) why God is worthy of our glory.

Since I didn’t have a job this summer, I was able to spend lots of time in God’s word, listening to sermons and journaling. I also went on campus three days a week. It was in these times that God taught me about Himself. Through being on campus, I’ve been able to have spiritual conversations with numerous students, and learn about what makes Jesus so special and so unique. I am going to detail three of the things that make biblical Christianity, as in the religion that follows Jesus based on the Bible, so cool.

• God gives us grace, its not something we have to earn, it’s just something that we have to receive. I think so easily I forget that I can be assured of my salvation, no matter the sin I commit, He still loves me and I will be accepted in His Kingdom. Other religions do not have the gift of grace. I’ve talked girls of different faiths, and they do not have assurance of grace. They will never be sure of where they are spending eternity. Every day of their lives, they must constantly be thinking of their eternity and praying that God shows mercy on them and that they did enough good to outweigh their bad.
• God allows His people to experience joy even amongst the trials. This summer has brought some heartbreak out of my past and forced me to deal with it. The beautiful thing is that God’s character does not change. Ever. Even though there are some days that I struggle to see His goodness, it’s there, and if I ask, He shows it to me. No matter what I’m feeling, He loves me and wants to show me just how much I mean to Him.
• God wants me to be happy. I have said so many times — that can’t be what God wants because it’s what I want – the truth is, God wants me to enjoy serving Him. He isn’t going to send me into something that not good for me, not fulfilling or not going to force me to rely on Him. He wants me to delight in Him and He will give me more of Himself and allow me to experience His character in new ways, which ultimately brings me more joy. I can look to my future confident that as long as I’m following where the Lord is leading, I will be growing and I will be fulfilled, not because of me, but because of Him. I wanted a job this summer, He didn’t give me that, but my lack of job forced me to rely on and seek Him more. He didn’t want me to just go through the motions, He wanted surrender and authenticity. That’s how great He is.

My prayer is that I not forget the ways the Lord has showed up this summer and that you too may be able to experience God in a way that forces you to honor Him. Our God is a God worthy of all of our glory and praise; He is who He says He is.