Steve West - On your graduation

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, June 8th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

It’s graduation season! Chances are, you’ve listened to your fair share of commencement speeches over the years. But have you ever wondered what you would say to a room full of young adults decked out in caps and gowns?

World legal commentator Steve West has thought about this. So if you have a graduate in the family, gather round and listen up.

STEVE WEST, COMMENTATOR: Well, here you are, finally. Did you think this day would ever come? I know that you're sitting here with a mixture of excitement, anxiety, and impatience, but bear with me. I only have five things to say.

First: Life is broken, but all is not lost. Lots of things are messed up, from the pandemic to racial strife to bad hair to lousy days when you can't even figure out what's wrong or why a blue funk has come over you. You know it wasn't meant to be this way. Yes, it's broken, under a curse ever since Adam and Eve decided to eat the fruit. And yet the curse is being undone. Focus on what's good, true, and beautiful, and pretty soon that's what you'll see.

Second: Live where you live, not where you think you want to live. In a world where you can Google anything and anyone, it's easy to want to be somewhere else, even to be someone else. But when Jesus walked the streets and hills of Judea and Samaria, he didn't wish he was anywhere else. So don't pine for somewhere else, for home, or for the next thing. Settle in and live and love where you are.

Third: Stop faking it. There are a lot of people-pleasers in the world and even, sadly, in the church, people who say all the right words because it's expected of them, or because they want to fit in. Don't. The church needs people who will speak the truth in love. You need friends who won't tell you what you want to hear or what they think you want to hear but what you need to hear, who'll call you out if need be. The Bible says “let your yes be yes and your no be no.” See that you do.

Fourth: Have the right passion. People have passions: vegetarianism, running, music, food. We were meant to have a passion—only people will fill it, fill that void, however they can. Ask God to give you a passion for Him. Just remember this: You are His passion. Not only does He love you, He likes you—not the petty you but the you He made in His image, the one He's transforming you into, thank God.

And finally: Don't be afraid. Fear can be paralyzing. You don't know how you'll manage college, life, or love, but He does. The only antidote for fear is faith. The Bible is full of people who did the unthinkable and the unlikely, from a quivering Moses to a shepherd boy who went up against a giant to a once cowardly Christ-denier on whom Jesus built his church. If God is with you, nothing can prevail against you.

Remember this: In the school of life, God is a kind headmaster. May He bless you on your graduation.

I’m Steve West.

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