The Public-Schooled Christian

“And I, I don’t want to leave a legacy

I don’t care if they remember me

Only Jesus

And I, I’ve only got one life to live

I’ll let every second point to Him

Only Jesus”

Only Jesus by Casting Crowns

That was how I wanted to live this school year. That is how (I hope) I encouraged others to live through my writing. 

Did I succeed? Did I live only for Jesus?

No. I made mistakes and I was selfish sometimes. We all are. 

But overall, I grew in my faith despite the non-Christian environment in school. This blog helped encourage me and others to live for Jesus in school, and since the school year is almost over now, this post is a recap and evaluation of the school year. 

Did you grow in your faith this school year?

The Good and the Bad From This School Year

We’ll start with the bad so we end on a positive note. I was tempted to call them “failures,” but that is not accurate. 

Yes, at some points, I made mistakes – but the word “failure” implies that everything went wrong. In fact, I don’t think any of us had complete failures this year, but instead, lessons. 

Failure teaches us and helps us to grow. But the biggest benefit of failure is that it points us to Jesus. Our weaknesses are meant to make us realize how much we need Him. 

Paul writes “when I am weak, then I am strong” because his weakness leads him to depend on Jesus, who gives strength. 

One struggle I had this year was that I grew apart from God for a period of time in second semester. I was stressed because of school, I didn’t keep up with good habits (like writing daily and digging deep in my quiet time), and I fell back into old habits (like scrolling on Instagram and procrastinating). 

I felt as if God must be disappointed in me, so I was tempted to do what Adam and Eve did after they sinned – hide. I didn’t want to spend as much time with God because I knew I would be convicted of my sin. 

That reflected in my actions and feelings. I wasn’t as happy during that time, and I went through the school day just to get it over with. I missed opportunities because I wasn’t focused on God. 

The good thing about seasons is that they end. That season ended, but I’m still trying to get back to the good habits and get rid of the bad habits I fell into. 

If I learned anything from that time, it is that I will never be good enough. And that’s the point, because Jesus is good enough. 

Now let’s talk about the good. 

Though I didn’t share the gospel as much as I’d like this year, I did have many faith related conversations with people. Mostly, I showed interest in what other people believe and shared with them that I am a Christian. 

There was a girl in my first block at the beginning of the year who I talked to about Christianity. She said she thought Islam and Christianity were basically the same – I tried to explain that they’re not. 

Sometimes we can make an impact in small ways, like how I talked with that girl. Other times, we have more straightforward opportunities. There was a boy who I asked, “Would you like to hear the gospel?” and he responded, “Yes!” 

There are many people I’ve asked what their faith is, and they know about mine, even if I’ve never formally shared the gospel with them. 

First semester was great and I grew in my faith a lot. I hope Jesus made an impact in people’s lives through me throughout the year. 

Second semester wasn’t so good, but I grew closer to God and it got better near the end. Was second semester hard for you, too?

Overall, I know that we all grew this year. So many of us stood strong in our beliefs no matter what. I am proud of us. 

Plans for the Future

Stories are impactful, and though there isn’t room for many of them on this post, I want you to have stories of other public-schooled Christians to encourage you. 

What do you think about this idea: an ebook that compiles stories from public-schooled Christians from all different places? Would you like to be a part of that?

Guess what? You can. 

Tell your story about standing strong in your faith at school here. Although your story will only be shared if you agree to it, I would love to make these stories into an ebook to encourage other public-schooled Christians.

You might be wondering what is going to happen to this blog during the summer. Since this is a blog about school, it is not going to continue during the summer, but next school year, The Public-Schooled Christian will be back and even better. 

I encourage you to use the summer as an opportunity to refresh and renew your relationship with Jesus. 

Is there anything that you would like to see on The Public-Schooled Christian next year? If you have any suggestions for the blog, let me know here.

Even if you don’t fill out the form to share your story, I’d love to hear from you. What have been your favorite things about this school year? How has God worked in your life?

Tell me in the comments!