Why on Earth do we need

to study?
Youth Fellowship
26 April 2008
 Comments you have heard or
said:
 “Life is more than books and education. Most
school courses relate little to what actually
takes place in a job. Most companies train the
employee for a particular job.”
 “All that counts is the piece of paper called the
degree. After I graduate, no one will care what
my grades were, so why bother now? I’ll
concentrate on what I think is important and let
the studying go.”
 “Frankly, I don’t know what I really want to do,
so what’s the purpose of knocking myself out
on studies that are of questionable value to
me?”
 Comments you have heard or
said:
 “As a Christian, I know that God put me
in college to be a witness, so studies are
low on my list of priorities. I need grades
that are good enough to stay in school.
Then I can concentrate on the important
things.”
 “I am studying engineering, so why
should I bother with literature, history, or
anything that doesn’t relate directly to
my major?”
 These statements are only partially true.
Basic Assumptions
 You are a Christian and want to
please God.
 Excellence and achievement are
stressed only from the perspective of
pleasing God, not pride and ego.
 You are in school by God’s will.
 While you are in school, you must
assume that you are there by God’s
sovereign appointment. Thus, you need
to do well.
 If you leave, it should be because you
choose to do so, not because you must.
 If you fail, do not do so by lack of proper
study techniques.
Basic Assumptions
 You have the basic ability to do the
work.
 If you are accepted by a school, you have
basic ability to do well.
 Most people succeed by hard work, not
native ability.
 You do want to graduate.
 A goal provides motivation
 The Bible honors men and women who
pursued goals.
 Philippians 3:13-14
 Proverbs 13:19
 A major goal in school is to finish. A
minimum goal would be to finish the term
or the current courses.
Reasons to study
 To show excellence
 Be people who fully use the ability God
gave them.
 Excellence means doing well whatever
you do.
 Colossians 3:23.
 Proverbs 22:29.
 Excellence does not necessarily mean
perfection.
 Excellence means that we do our best at
any task and trust the results to God.
 Ecclesiastes 10:10.
Reasons to study
 To establish the habit of working hard
 Most successful people became so not
because of luck and brilliance, but by
hard work (Proverbs 13:4).
 Working hard at only what we like is
recreation.
 Working hard at an assigned task is the
mark of a diligent person. In the world of
work and career, most tasks are
assigned, not chosen.
 Proverbs 12:24; 18:9; 20:4; 28:19.
 Hard work has no substitute.
Diligent and Discipline
Tom Landry, pelatih dari tim
football Dallas Cowboys selama
30 tahun menulis sbb:
“The job of a football coach is to
make men do what they don’t
want to do in order to achieve
what they’ve always wanted to
be.”
Reasons to study
 To fulfill your responsibility to
your parents
 Many parents make great personal
sacrifices to provide for their
children’s education. As a son or
daughter, you need to recognize
and respond to this sacrifice in a
way that honors them. Certainly
one way is to study well.
 Exodus 20:12.

 Ephesians 6:2.
Reasons to study
 To establish a profession
 The end result of an education is
not a piece of paper called a
degree, but the establishment of a
career.
 To have greater freedom
 If you study well throughout
undergraduate training, you inherit
a far wider range of choices upon
graduation.
 The mediocre student is fortunate
just to find work.
Personal motivation
 Obedience to God
 Ecclesiastes 12:13
 Luke 6:46
 Can lack of diligence in studies actually
be sin? James 4:17
 Learning and gaining knowledge
 The primary purpose of education is to
teach one to think, not so much to do.
 When we apply ourselves and stretch
the mind God gave us, we reap benefits
in every area of life, including our
personal spiritual walk and our future
ministry to others.
Personal motivation
 Future
 The only plans God disapproves of
are those in which he has no part.
 Matthew 6:34

 Luke 12:13-21
Conclusion

It’s not how long you live,

but how well you live.
And how well you finish
your lives.
Reference
The Christian Student’s How To Study Guide by
Jerry White, 1980.