During Lent, our confirmation students met with mentors to talk about faith and life—growing in identity, belonging, and purpose through caring relationships. Together they also co-wrote reflections on a Bible verse, and we’ll be sharing these devotionals throughout the Easter season as an invitation to embrace thoughtful dialogue and respond to God’s grace with love in the world.

Today's Reflection was written by 8th Grader Andy Walter and his mentor Jon Schopp

In today’s world, people are always going through different things and facing different situations. That constant commotion makes it difficult for us to understand what others truly need to hear, both for their own benefit and for the benefit of those around them.

James 1:19 states, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry.” This is an important verse because in today’s world, we are always thinking about what we want to say rather than what others have to say. Because of this, we often overlook people’s struggles and the issues in their lives. And because those issues sometimes have no connection to our own experiences, we struggle to show sympathy; and we can even become angry rather than doing what is right, which is to show empathy, be present for them, and tell them what they truly need to hear.

Once we finally get a sense of what somebody needs to hear, we have to find a way to put it into words that are meaningful to them. One verse that speaks to this is Colossians 4:6, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

This verse shows us that in order to truly help someone, we must lead with empathy, but alongside that empathy, we must also speak the truth. If a person never receives the truth, they may face unnecessary struggles later in life because they were never made aware of what lies ahead. But if we do include that truth, spoken with grace, they will be better prepared. They will have a clearer understanding of what to expect, and because of that, we can each play a part in making the world a better place.