Jayden: How I Learned to Listen

A year ago, if you had asked me what I was going to be doing after I graduated high school, I would not have said “attending a Bible school.” The answer probably would’ve been more along the lines of trying to get an internship at a police department, or getting a job and saving money. And yet, incredibly, this year has easily been the most influential of my life.

This entire year it felt like I was getting challenged, not just on what I had originally believed the Bible to say, but also how something as simple as a church service could be so different. However, in the midst of trying to adjust my entire view of spiritual thinking, it felt like I had my eyes opened to so many different things, things that God was showing me, things I have come to learn, acknowledge, and put into practice.

The most prevalent of these things would have to be a simple concept that most people can’t or won’t do: listen. But not only listening; keeping an open mind while doing it. There were so many times I wanted to tell my teachers they were wrong, or “correct” my classmates, when in reality, I was the one that had the messed-up perspective. Through love, grace, and patience, whether shown by God or my peers, I finally started to see that it’s ok to be wrong. Being wrong isn’t about shaming people, or treating them like they’re stupid just because they don’t know the answer to something. That’s what’s wrong. It’s taking that guidance and listening to what others have to say, using that time to learn something that you can apply. That’s when the wrong becomes right.

I am incredibly thankful to have had the opportunity to attend Legacy Bible Institute. We have covered so much ground in so little time, from reading the entire Bible in six months, to studying the history of the Christian church; and we’ve only scratched the surface. I can say without a doubt, 85% of what we covered here I would never have looked at on my own. I never would’ve thought that Old Testament prophets in lesser-known books of the Bible were worth reading about, or who cares about letters written to a church that’s now non-existent. But I have now seen the worth of reading the entirety of God’s Word, which should be worth it based on that fact alone. Like I said, there were so many things we went over and I learned, but there’s still so much more to be explored. So I encourage you, reader: take the time to plunge into God’s Word; dive deep either by yourself or with others, and you won’t be disappointed.