Questions We Think You Should Ask

Why do I have to do chores?

Here’s the cool part about chores: Little tasks like cleaning your room, loading the dishwasher, or doing some yard work aren’t just about lessons for when you’re grown up. They help make your house a great place to live now. Everyone doing their part — no matter how boring — is part of how God designed people to live together.

Why should I care about school?

Because being a kid is about getting ready to be a grown up. Growing up takes hard work. At school, you’re learning math and reading and science so that one day you’ll be ready to have a family, get a job, serve your church, and love your neighbors.

Is church just for parents and adults?

Nope! Church is a group of people in the same city or neighborhood who love Jesus and follow him. For church to work the way God created it, it takes grown ups and kids, grandparents and babies. And you.

What Does God Say About the Stuff You Do Everyday?

To answer, just look up these verses.

Psalm 90:17

Psalm 128:1–2

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

1 Corinthians 10:31

Philippians 2:14–16

Our faith isn’t just something for church. Our faith is an important part of us that should shape every part of our lives — from those early morning alarms to those a-bit-too-late bedtimes. But some times you can’t easily tell how your faith relates to the stuff you do all day. The cool part is that you can learn to see the ways God wants to be a part of your whole life.

What is my faith?

If you’re a Christian, your faith means your belief in Jesus and his work of dying on the cross for your sins.

What is my work?

Don’t let the word “work” confuse you. When I say work, I mean the tasks we do and commitments we keep each day, whether an adult with a job at a business, a parent taking care of his or her toddlers, or a student at school. And our work, no matter what it is, is an important part of how God made us. We weren’t made to sit around all day, nor is our work a pointless task that God gives us to keep us busy. Our work is how we better ourselves and our communities, and serve God.

Why is my work important?

So why is our work at school important? Education shapes us into better members of our communities, and it prepares us for whatever is next in life. Learning long division may feel pointless, but the time that we spend listening to a teacher, learning to ask for help, and working alongside our classmates are all great rhythms to practice for when we must do these same things as an adult.

How can my faith connect to my (school) work?

Faith can influence our work in really unexpected ways. Our faith brings greater purpose to even the most annoying work we must do (AKA, your least favorite subject at school). We know that God has called each of us to work, and that brings dignity and purpose to the work we do. That means we don’t need to feel like whatever we’re doing is a waste of time, because our God invites us to work alongside him in whatever way we can. That doesn’t mean we can’t get frustrated or sad when things at school aren’t going well, but we can remember that God brings joy and purpose to those hard moments, and that he is with us.

How can my work honor God?

We also work as a way to honor God. This can look like many things: Our schoolwork can honor God when it’s done well, rather than looking for shortcuts or rushing through it. Our conversations at school can honor God when we talk about our faith with our friends or treat those friends with the care and respect they need.

We can also honor God when we use our faith to enhance our work. This means using ideas or practices that we’ve learned at church or through our families when we’re at school. If we feel ourselves slipping into pride or arrogance, we remember when Jesus calls us to humility. If we are having trouble focusing on a hard task, we use the stillness and focus we practice in prayer to focus on the work that’s in front of us.

Everything you do matters.

Our faith reminds us that the work we do has a purpose, even when it feels like it doesn’t. Our work is also a wonderful way to honor God, better ourselves, and serve our community. Faith doesn’t meet work when we graduate or get a job — it starts right now.