Back to school can be an anxious time for children and parents. Your student may be entering a new environment with new pressures academically and socially. You may not know the teachers or you might be concerned with the size of the school or the curriculum. What will my student learn? How can you reinforce biblical behavior at home with the crazy schedule that is about the start? What about Christian friends? You’re wondering if there are any, and if your child will make the right choices to build an accountable friend group.
Top Back To School Bible Verses
There are so many variables and vulnerabilities with the opening of school, it makes a challenge to faithfully live out the call to, “not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). Here is a set of verses that will help. Write them down, think about them when you wake up and throughout the day.
How to Seek God in All You Do
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. –Proverbs 3:5-6 (New Living Translation)
Our trust needs to fully and completely in our God, whose hands formed the oceans and keeps them at bay, he knows and understands our deepest fears and needs. Sometimes it’s difficult to see what’s next, but if we seek him, we are promised that he will show us where we need to go.
Trusting in God
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:19 (English Standard Version)
Do we believe it? The storehouses in Heaven are full. We don’t need to worry. Paul needed encouragement, financially and spiritually, and he experienced it through the generosity of the Philippians. That’s when Paul reassures us that God will supply our every need. We don’t need to worry. Ours is to be faithful.
Discovering Youthfulness as Valuable
Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. – 1 Timothy 4:12 (New American Standard Bible)
We need to listen to our children and encourage them to grow, just like Jesus, in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. If we allow them the space to discover and unpack their faith, we will be discipling them along the way, as a fellow brother or sister in Christ. Be kind and patient. It’s a tedious process with so many small decisions and reactions that add up.
Realizing Purpose
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. -Romans 8:28 (English Standard Version)
With God, nothing is wasted. Our lives are entirely used by him and redeemed to him for good. In the basement or subbasement of our lives, when there seems to be no hope and drowning despair, like Joseph in jail or Daniel’s friends in the fiery furnace, we need to be reminded that God is working all things for good. That means the poor grade or terrible social mistake or tiring argument with your adolescent son. Pursue God through it all. We are called into his purpose and his way is good.
Fighting Temptation
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. – 1 Corinthians 10:13 (New Living Translation)
We need to always be looking for the exit when we are tempted. So often we find excuses or rationales to make our sins OK, but we need to abandon all these thoughts that keep us captive to our old way of living. We must teach our children to live a life worthy of the calling they’ve received and when tempted, to know to whom they belong.
How to Serve God
Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. – 1 Samuel 12:24 (New King James Version)
God is great and greatly to be praised. His work is seen all over, in creation, in history, in us. He delivered us from bondage by the blood of his son and given us a new name! We are to serve him for the very reason that he doesn’t need is to. It sounds paradoxical. We are to serve him not because he needs our service, but because he wants us. He desires us to be in right relationship with him. How much more rewarding is that!
Setting Priorities
So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31 (New Living Translation)
Though a Christian cliche now, asking ourselves, “What would Jesus do?”, shouldn’t be trite. The question originated from Charles Sheldon’s In His Steps, where a community acted out the question in every aspect of life. The outcomes were extraordinary. The highest good became service to Jesus and everything else – money, position, power, opportunity – all faded to a distant second. Let us live like this.
Discovering Value and Worth
But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” – Matthew 19:14 (New American Standard Bible)
God’s kingdom is for those who believe like children, without inhibition or judgement or cynicism. Simple faith is not naivety; it is a trust that God will do what he says he will do. Our children can teach us this simple reliance on God.
Finding Strength Through It All
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:13 (New King James Version)
Paul explains the secret to life, whether we are poor or rich, hungry or full, broken or whole. Our strength is not found inside us. We can summon it up with sheer will power. That’s not the Gospel. The Gospel is simply this: we can do all things through Christ because he went to the cross, died and rose again. He conquered death so we can be more than conquerers.
Working Through Fear and Discouragement
“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9 (New Living Translation)
Joshua becomes the leader of the Israelites after Moses dies. Talk about big shoes to fill! God is kind and good. He takes Joshua aside and talks with him. Part of the promise is in the verse above. God promises that every step Joshua takes will be in the same strength as with Moses. That’s a promise for us too. Our steps can be taken in strength and courage because God is with us.
When You Need to Praise God
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. – Psalm 68:19 (New International Version)
We are not our own. We’ve been bought with a price. We are not alone either. We’ve been given relationship with the Maker of everything. He knows our needs and he carries our burdens. If we begin to doubt it as the school year starts in all its hustle and bustle, claim this verse as a song of praise and promise.
Putting Your Confidence in God
The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all. – Psalm 34:19 (New International Version)
We are not insulated from trouble because we serve the Creator God. He’s clear about this. But he tells us to take heart, to not be troubled because he has overcome the world. Jesus is the clear and ultimate example that trouble will indeed come as we live our lives in faithfulness. We can count on it. But with the Psalmist we can be reassured that the Lord will deliver us.
Overcoming Anxiousness And Worry
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation)
Philippians echoes Jesus’ words and worry. Jesus asks, which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Matthew 6:27). Paul says that instead of worrying, we should pray and bring our needs before the Lord. Why? Because by praying we are surrendering to the peace of God that is beyond our capacity to understand.
Dealing With Self Image
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. – Psalm 139:14 (English Standard Version)
We are made to be image bearers of God. That is our true calling. We are wonderfully made in order to be wonderfully filled with all the goodness of God, to live holy lives that are individual testimonies to the large testimony of Jesus Christ crucified and risen from the dead. Let us start this school year with the renewed breath in our lungs.
When You Aren’t Treated Nicely
“But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.” – Luke 6:27-28 (New King James Version)
It is said that if we have no enemies, we probably don’t know how to love. We need to be honest about those people in our lives that require a bit more patience, generosity, and kindness. Why do we think God places such people into our lives anyway? Everyone is created in the image of God and needs to be valued accordingly. When we show love to the unlovely, we are demonstrating God’s kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Facing Fears
But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me? – Psalm 56:3-4 (New Living Translation)
The start of school can be a scary time of new environments, teachers, and social pressures. We are called to put our trust in God because he knows what’s around the corner, through the trees, or in the next class. It’s not easy to trust. It requires dependency, a trait that doesn’t come easy for anyone. We can’t go it alone. We need to trust in God.
Difficulty Understanding
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. – James 1:5 (English Standard Version)
Wisdom is God’s to give, as he gave it to Solomon. Are we asking him to supply his dose of wisdom to us? It takes courage to ask. It’s not the wisdom we can find in books, but a certain discernment and spiritual maturity only God can supply. He gives it generously if we only open up enough to pray boldly.
Overwhelmed By Media & Culture
Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth, And put devious lips far from you. Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage] And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity]. – Proverbs 4:23-25 (Amplified Bible)
We are prone to wander and walk well away from the blessings of God. We want to be our own person, to depend on no one else, to take all the credit and do what we want. If we are following God, we must be careful not to fall. Satan is roaming around seeking out who he might devour. Let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus as the Israelites had to be fixed on Moses’s staff lest they get bit by the snakes around them. Only then will we not go astray.
Dealing With Peer Pressure
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish, ignorant arguments that only start fights. A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. – 2 Timothy 2:22-25 (New Living Translation)
Don’t entertain lust or envy or relationships that you know are not in keeping with becoming more like Jesus. Don’t make any excuses. We are so easily turned aside by our own rationales about whatever sin we want to keep on the down-low. Acknowledge it and turn the other way round. This is especially good to remember as the school year begins. Have your running shoes at the ready.
When It Seems Like Too Much
He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. – Isaiah 40:29-31 (New American Standard Bible)
Back to school brings a return to less sleep and more responsibility. Let us make sure we gain our strength in and through the time we spend with God in prayer and reading the Bible. If we try to succeed on our own, we won’t make it. We need God to mount us onto the wings of eagles.