Top 7 Bible Verses for Graduates and Graduation

Here are 7 Bible verses that you can use for the graduates for their graduation.  What ones would you include?

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

I understand that this was written to the Jews who were in captivity in Babylon but does this not apply to believers today?  Doesn’t God promise us that “all things work together for the good of those who love God” (Rom 8:18)?  Does not God have plans for us as well?  Some say that this doesn’t apply to us today but what parts are irrelevant to believers?  Does the Lord not have plans for us to do well, for our future, for our welfare (our good), and for our hope?  Graduates are full of promise and hope and for Christian graduates, they have the hope that can only be found in God Who can ensure that all things, good or bad, will work out for our best.

Proverbs 3:5-7a “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.”

It’s a matter of having trust in God and not relying on our own understanding for God’s ways and God’s thoughts are beyond human comprehension (Isaiah 55:8).  We are commanded to acknowledge God in “all [our] ways” because if we do, “he will make straight [our] paths” but only if we are “not wise in [our] own eyes.”  Fear God and turn from evil and God will straighten the paths for us that are crooked in this world.

First Timothy 4:12 “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

Graduates are young and the older generation may despise this, maybe even be jealous of your youth, but don’t let that stop you.  If you set a good example in speech, conduct, love, faith, and in purity, you may persuade them to think differently.  Some will still despise your youth, but it is God that you are to please and not man.  If they despise your youth, that is their problem, not yours.

Proverbs 19:20-21 “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”

Even though I am a grandfather, I still listen to advice and accept corrective instruction because I have not yet arrived.  I must not let my pride interfere with my potential to grow by listening to others.  Many of you graduates will have plans but in reality, the purpose of the Lord will stand after all is said and done and that great purpose is that God is glorified, so make that a goal in your life…glorify God in all you do and you will gain wisdom, not only in the future, but in the present as well.

Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

What does it mean to delight in the Lord?  Have you ever seen how new parents faces light up when they are observing their babies or young children?  When the say their first word, when they take their first step, or when they do something for the very first time, there is sheer delight in their faces.  That is what we are to do in the Lord. When we delight in God and all His ways, He will give us “the desires of [our] heart.”   God takes holy pleasure in giving to His children good things. Every graduate has a deep desire to be something, do something, or make something special happen. If you delight in God, whatever your desire is, in God’s will, He will grant it.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

The man or woman who trusts in God has placed their trust in the best of all possible Persons.  Trusting in God is like planting yourself near a never-ending water supply that has access to the living waters and doesn’t fear when scorching heat or drought comes.  You, graduate, will bear fruit even in lean times if you keep your trust in God and not in yourself.

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Can you even imagine this? God has prepared things for you to do even before you were born (Eph 1). You are God’s own “workmanship” that He “created in Christ Jesus for good works which God [has] prepared” ahead of time.  These good works were planned for you so that you might walk in them.  If you are walking with God, meaning that you are in step with and in agreement with God, you will walk in the things that He purposed for you do walk in.  These “good works” are for His glory and for your best.

Conclusion

Congratulations to all graduates. If you really want to have a joy-filled life, and I don’t mean a life that is full of riches, you will walk with God, you will trust in God, you will delight in Him which means you will strive to please Him, you will accept His advice and instruction, you will live a life of godly conduct, you will not lean or rely on your own understanding, then you can rest assured that God has “plans you’re your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer 29:11).  What better future is there than to trust and obey?

Another Reading on Patheos to Check Out: What Did Jesus Really Look Like: A Look at the Bible Facts

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book  Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon