A New Light
By Rebekah, WI
Even though I have only been in Christian Doctrine class for a month, I have learned lessons I don’t think I will ever forget. Almost everyday the Pastor has one particular message that he wants us to hear. In order to ensure that we hear this message, he demands about thirty seconds of our time. One particular message sticks out in my mind.
We had just begun to study the purposes of the Bible when Pastor had us open our Bibles to Genesis 1:28-29. He then proceeded to read the verses out loud. God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”
Hearing those verses didn’t really have an effect on me. After all, I had probably heard those verses over fifty times during my life. The application and explanation of the verses brought the effect.
Pastor said those particular verses explained our place in the world from God’s point of view which is obviously the only viewpoint that matters. He explained that according to those verses we were the crown of God’s creation. We were the creation that mattered most to God. This didn’t really affect me either because I had heard it before. I had also learned it from other passages such as John 3:16, but Pastor wasn’t finished with his explanation.
He proceeded to explain that whenever we hurt or disrespect people, we are disrespecting God’s perfect and holy creation. We are disrespecting the crown of creation which Christ gave his life for. Pastor then explained that when a person disrespects another person, they also disrespect the God who made them.
At that moment the light went on. This was something I had heard before, but I heard it in a different way this time. The effect it had on me was also very different. This time the message hit me hard. It made me feel guilty. This was the perfect message for kids in high school because someone is always being cut down. Every single time one of us ignores another person, makes fun of them, or gossips about them, we are disrespecting them. We are also disrespecting the God who created them.
At that very moment, I wished we had been in chapel. I wished we had been there because I wanted everyone to feel guilty. I thought if only everyone could hear that particular message, maybe people would change their minds. Maybe people would realize what they were actually doing when they cut someone else down.
That simple message which I had heard before changed me. It made me think about things before I said them. I began to think about the effect my words had on others. I am not saying the message has stopped me from ever gossiping or making fun of someone. I am sinful, but it has made me think. It has made me realize what I was doing when I did gossip. The message has made me see things in a whole other light.