**Updated April 2022**

You’re about to graduate. You made it. The day finally arrives. The graduation march plays and your class files in. The last few weeks have been full of senior events, cleaning out your locker, and rehearsing for the capstone of your educational career. Thirteen years in the making.

You file in and sit in your respective seat. You listen to your fellow classmates give speeches about the good times and the hope you all possess for your futures. All the while, you think to yourself, “I can’t believe I’m at my high school graduation. I’ve prepared for this for years, and I’m finally here.”

You soon throw your cap, take an unbelievable amount of pictures, and attend multiple graduation parties.

What an exciting time. You’re a high school graduate!

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Reality Check

Graduation proves an unforgettable life experience. After all the festivities come to an end, you begin preparing for the next phase of life. During this transition of life after high school, it is time to sit down and have a serious conversation with yourself about your faith. You’re an adult now and there’s things you must determine.

Here’s why.

After reading this post from the blog “Recklessly Alive”,  I wanted to bring it to your attention.

• According to this study (and many others like it) church attendance and impressions of the church are the lowest in recent history and most drastic among millennials described as 22-35 year olds.
  • Only 2 in 10 Americans under 30 believe attending a church is important or worthwhile (an all-time low).
  • 59% percent of millennials raised in a church have dropped out.
  • 35% of millennials have an anti-church stance, believing the church does more harm than good.
  • Millennials are the least likely age group of anyone to attend church (by far).
  • **Update**–> Gen Z has the highest percentage of atheism. You can read about that here.

Even though these findings specifically discuss church, it still warrants a discussion on what you really believe about your faith. Before moving into your next phase of life, you need to take time to consider the following questions and answer them honestly.

1. Do I really believe what I’ve learned about God?

Growing up in church, it’s easy to “play the game.” You memorize verses, tell the story of salvation, perform in the Easter play, say you have faith, go to youth group, ect., but do you believe deep in your soul what you’ve learned?

• Do you really believe Jesus is the son of God and died to save you from your sins?
• Do you really believe God has a good plan for your life?
• Do you truly believe the Bible “stories” and that the Word of God is true? Can you still believe it if someone tells you you’re stupid or that the Bible is false?
• Have you actually given your life to the Lord?

Take time to search your heart and be honest with yourself.

Three questions Christian teens must answer about faith when they graduate HS. Click to read! Click To Tweet

2. Do I believe that sin can really destroy my life?

James 1:14-15 (NIV) states, “¹⁴ but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. ¹⁵ Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”  Romans 6:23 also discusses how the wages of sin is DEATH.

Being a teacher and working with youth in general, I have seen countless students make it through church youth group, but after they graduate and leave home, they turn from God. They leave church, make harmful decisions, and never give God another thought.

The temptations you will face in the next phase of life will be harder to resist because you won’t be “answering” to your parents. Your behavior is now up to you. If you don’t believe sin will destroy your life, you WILL give into temptation. You will seek the fulfillment sin offers, yet never be satisfied.

Sin is serious, and you must decide if you believe that because you will make your decisions accordingly.

3. Am I going to continue to pursue God and go to church after I graduate and leave home?

Learning about God doesn’t stop when you graduate. You should continue to learn more about God and the Bible even after you leave home. 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) states, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” This shows that spiritual growth is continual.

It is also important not to neglect church. You may be tempted to because it’s “what you’ve always done” and you want to see what a break feels like, but don’t do it; it just makes it that much harder to go back. If you go to a Christian college that requires chapel, like mine did, you may not feel the “need” to go to an actual church every Sunday. Be careful of these thoughts. Again, if you get out of the habit of going, it’s hard to make yourself ever go back.

Hebrews 10:25 (NIV) relays, “…not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another…” The Bible makes it explicitly clear that we are to come together with fellow believers on a consistent basis and there’s no better way than church.

A Grad Gift Suggestion

OK, I wish I had all the money in the world and could give these away to anyone who asked. However, I do not, but I wanted to suggest them.

Gift option 1: Fundamentals of the Faith by John MacArthur

This book came highly recommended to me for those about to graduate. The description is as follows:

On Sunday mornings at Grace Community Church, where John MacArthur preaches, small groups gather together in Fundamentals of the Faith classes to use this manual of thirteen lessons that blend basic biblical truths with personal obedience and service.

For the first time ever, Fundamentals of the Faith is available to everyone in book form. With topics ranging from “God: His Character and Attributes” to “The Church: Fellowship and Worship,” this study is ideal for discipling new believers or realizing afresh what it means to follow Jesus.

Each lesson is loaded with learning tools to help you engage Scripture:

• A link to 13 free downloadable messages by John MacArthur himself
• Study questions and memory verses
• Suggestions for practical application

If you are a new believer or know someone who is, Fundamentals of the Faith is the perfect resource for establishing a solid biblical foundation for the Christian life.

Gift option 2: God’s Not Gray

This is a book I wrote after seeing major gaps in understanding the basics of the Christian faith from the youth groups I served in. Here is the description:

Our modern society has blurred the lines and made gray areas out of many aspects of life. The sad thing is, this blur has crept into Christian churches and is deceiving people, congregations, and entire denominations.

The purpose of God’s Not Gray is to tackle the blurred lines of sin, salvation, tolerance, the hook up culture, identity, and the Christian mission with biblical truth. This, along with stories, probing questions, and resources, is designed to help Christians understand the biblical stance on these topics.

In closing

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you found this post helpful. You can learn more about our ministry by reading below!

-Sarah

More about our ministry

At Transformed4More, our goal is to help those who want to grow in their relationship with God, and we do this in two main ways:

• The first is by providing resources. We have our own and ones we recommend. Click here or the graphic below to see them.

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