Spiritual Reflection Paper

LETU-1101-04

Dr. Brent Ellis

Elijah Lofgren

September 20, 2006

My decision to accept Christ was largely due to being raised in a Christian family. I have attended church all my life and one day a Sunday school teacher at New Life church in Little Rock, Arkansas was used by God to invite me to give my life to Christ. I think there was first a discussion about the plan of salvation. Then my teachers told us to come with them to another room if we wanted to ask Jesus into our heart. I followed them and prayed what many people would call the sinner's prayer.

However, I would have never attended that church or been a part of that Sunday school class has it not been for my parents. My parents have played the largest role in my spiritual development. Both of my parents are strong Christians and their hard work to guide me into a relationship with Jesus Christ paid off. They poured their lives into me and helped me to grow in my relationship with God through Bible study and memorization. I am grateful to God for blessing me with parents who have been godly influence on me throughout my eighteen years of life.

From a very young age, my mom would read me Bible stories. As I got older she would have me start to read some of the words out of Bible stories. So even as I learned to read, I was learning about the greatest story ever told. My parents have emphasized scripture memorization as a key way to to to learn God's word. My mom has come up with something our family calls the “ABC verses”. She has chosen a verse to go along with each letter of the alphabet. She then chooses a tune to go along with each of those verses. Thus, as we are learning a verse for each letter of the alphabet, we are learning a piece of God's story.

We were also challenged to memorize large passages of Scripture. A tradition in my family is for each of the children to learn the entire chapter of Psalm 119 set to music and sing it during their thirteenth birthday celebration. I didn't quite fulfill that tradition, only getting to about the sixty-fourth verse and instead reciting a different chapter of the Bible. However, my younger sisters are continuing the tradition, one having already recited the entire thing and the other working hard on learning it.

One year I was a part of Bible Quizzing with the Prattville Christian and Missionary Alliance Church in Alabama which my family and I were attending at the time. Not only was one of my older sisters on the team, but my Dad was our coach. The book of the Bible for that year was the Gospel of Luke. We worked hard on memorizing whole chapters of Luke and went to competitions at different churches in our district. Both my sister and I did well enough that we participated in Bible Quizzing Internationals in Ohio.

For my high school graduation celebration ceremony, I had the choice of giving a speech or reciting a passage of Scripture. Not one for speeches, I chose to memorize and recite Romans 8. Scripture memorization has been a very large part of my life from very early on and it has helped me to grow closer to God.

My Father has set a wonderful example in the way that he acts as the God-ordained head of our family. By leading family devotions he has helped my siblings and I to study the Bible in depth. We often go through chapters in the Bible, writing down our answers to questions and then sharing them during family devotions.

For over a year, our family was a part of a home church in which the families traded off meeting at each other's homes. During the meetings we would sing songs and then usually one of the fathers would teach from a specific Bible passage and there would be group discussion. We would normally spend all day Sunday at the host family's house. Being a part of a home fellowship was a great opportunity for fun and fellowship.

Since I came to Christ at a young age, I'm not sure exactly how my strengths played a role in my initial acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I do know that my strengths have played a large role in my spiritual growth since that time.

Harmony is something that we are all commanded to have, as it says in 1 Peter 3:8 “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble”. Getting along with people comes naturally to me. I pray that God will help me to use this gift to have a positive impact in the lives of others.

God holds each of us responsible for our own actions. I realize that I cannot rely on the faith of my parents, it has to be my own. This means that I need to take personal responsibility for my spiritual growth.

Blessed with the strength of discipline, it has helped me to make time daily to read the Bible. Reading the Bible allows me to learn for myself about God from the best source possible.

As a thinker, I spend a lot of time thinking about life and the reason I was placed on the earth. Sometimes life is hard and doesn't seem to make sense, but I just need to go back to Scripture to realize that I was placed here for a purpose. I need to trust God when He says in Jeremiah 29:11 “'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” Another thing that I must remember is that God will use every struggle and hardship for my good which brings me back to a verse from the chapter I quoted at my graduation, Romans 8:28, which says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Struggles are a necessary part of life because they are the catalyst for growth. During my high school years I often struggled with guilt over not being disciplined enough. It's interesting that discipline, something I've struggled with so much, showed up as one of my strengths when I took the Clifton StrengthsFinder test. Coming to college, I have found that the environment here has helped me to become more disciplined. Finding victory in areas of my life has shown me that God is always faithful and never gives up on us, no matter how bad we fail.

God's influence makes a difference in my life. God gives me hope when I'm down. When I've gotten depressed, God has been right there beside me. Being able to confess my sins to God anytime, anywhere is a wonderful thing. No matter where I am, I can always count on God being right there with me.

As the potter, God is molding me into His image. Even though I may want to be like someone else, I need to realize that God is the one who chooses what we are to become. Accepting that, I need to work to find out what He wants and work at it with all my heart.

Growing up in such a supportive and loving family has helped me to easily grasp the fact that God, my Heavenly Father, loves me even when I make mistakes. Coming from a family with a strong commitment to learning God's word will help me as I continue in this journey to know God in a deeper more meaningful way.

There have been struggles along the way, but I have found that God is faithful, even when we aren't. I thank God for where He's brought me and where He will bring me in the future.