What is the purpose of getting an education?

Dear Reader,

High school and university students often have a difficult time choosing a career path.  It’s hard to know what you want to do when you don’t have any prior experience.  So just what is the purpose of getting an education?  Why is it important and how does it fit into our Christian faith?

Many young people simply try and find the vocation that will make them the most money.  This is why it is so hard to get into disciplines like engineering, architecture, medical school and law school.  But what should your view be as a Christian when you are trying to choose your vocation in life?  I tell the youth and young adults at Grace the purpose of getting an education is so you can better serve your neighbour in life.  By getting an education you pick up specialist skills with which you can better serve those around you.  No doubt, our society needs general labourers like retail workers, restaurant workers and taxi drivers-they play an important role in society and serve us in important, even, indispensable ways.  But if you add to your learning then you can serve others in more specialized ways.  That is the blessing of getting an education.

When anyone asks me how they decide what they should do in life I tell them to think about the personality God has given them, the particular talents and abilities God has given them, the education they have at this point, and I ask them this question, “How do you think you can use all the gifts God has given you to best serve your neighbour?”  Usually the answer will be something they like doing or are good at doing now or something they feel they would like to do given more education.  Whatever answer first comes to your mind is probably a good place to start as you think about what job you would like to have in life.

Many young Christian women have the simple and powerful desire to be a stay-at-home mother.  That’s a wonderful, God-given desire!  Going to college or university can be helpful even if you have this desire as it gives you extra skills in which you can support yourself while you wait for God to give you a Christian husband.  And often God introduces you to your Christian husband while at college or university or at the different churches you worship at while you are on your post-secondary educational journey.

Serving our neighbour is what God has made us to do while we are on earth.  As we love and serve our neighbour we are a blessing to society and we earn the money needed to support ourselves and if we are married our family.  And when we choose a vocation that we feel God has given us the abilities to do well and as we use that in service of others we gain a sense of fulfilment and feel content.

So what’s the purpose of getting an education?  It’s adding that extra specialist knowledge and training to the abilities and talents God has already given you to help you serve your neighbour better.

God bless your continued education!

Sincerely,

Pastor Rob Korsch