rebelling against low expectations

Education Is a Privilege, Not a Burden

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Here’s a revolutionary idea: Let’s stop complaining about school.

Sure, homework can be mundane. Classes can be boring. Papers can be a nightmare. But education is 100% what we make of it. Our attitude matters.

Think about it. Less than 1% of world gets to attend high school and college. Children and young people around the world risk their lives to get an education. Let’s make the most of ours.

More than that, let’s be grateful for the privilege.

education_is_a_privilege

If this idea resonates with you (or convicts you), check out this 2-minute video from Desiring God. In it Matt Reagan challenges us with the thought: “Education is a privilege, not a burden.”

He says, “If you have four years and you decide to go to college, use those four years to learn and make the most of it on some level. Because you can skip class anywhere.”


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About the author

Alex and Brett Harris

are the co-founders of TheRebelution.com and co-authors of Do Hard Things and Start Here. They have a passion for God and for their generation. Their personal interests include politics, filmmaking, music, and basketball. They are both graduates of Patrick Henry College in Purcellville, Virginia.

14 comments

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  • Thank you so much for this reminder and video! It can be hard for me to commit myself to learning things I’m not very interested in (such as math), but when I see the statistics like the one you provided, it really makes me think about how privileged I am.
    Not to mention the fact that God has called me to be a student right now, and that I am to do all things for His glory, so why should I justify my slacking with ‘I just don’t feel like it’ or ‘it’s not very relevant to me right now’? The Bible doesn’t say, “Do all things to the glory of God, except for school, because we know it can be really hard and boring sometimes.”
    The video was very encouraging. We truly do live in a spoiled culture and generation!

    • Excellent thoughts, Madison! We certainly have the responsibility to steward our time and energy and can decide that additional schooling or a particular class just aren’t beneficial. But… if we choose to stay in school or in a particular class — or if that schooling is required in order for us to achieve some other goal we have for our lives — then we shouldn’t be complaining about it. At least we don’t have to pull ourselves across any rivers to get to class!

    • You’re welcome, Trent. I really think most of the things we complain about are a problem of perspective. We need to get our perspectives adjusted so we can see reality accurately.

      • What if we were to be put in a different atmosphere while gaining an education. Maybe the influence of our peer’s beliefs about how horrible homework is affects us. In contrast, I think gaining an experience of being enrolled at a school in a developing country is a great influence on our perspective of school in our own country.

  • This is yet another challenging article at just the right time for me! Thank you Alex and Brett! I’m looking forward to the rest of this series.

  • I was really reminded of what is God calling me to do as a student, all through out since we were born, we are called to Honor God. Let’s reach out to the lost, and those who haven’t heard of the Gospel, experience it’s power as they see His glory in all areas of our lives including our “Schooling”. It’s not enough to encourage them to pursue excellence, rather let them see God through our actions as well. Speak Life, you are never too young to make a difference!

  • I was really reminded of what is God calling us to do as students, we are called to “Follow Jesus and Fish for People” . Let’s continue reach out to the lost, and those who haven’t heard of the Gospel, let them experience it’s power as they see His glory in all areas of our lives including our Academics. It’s not enough to encourage them to pursue excellence, rather let them see God through our actions as well. Speak Life

  • Thanks for that, it is so easy to not try our hardest in school but so many people don’t even get that opportunity to go to school

  • Thanks for the reminder! I’m homeschooled so I have a more flexible schedule than most people and sometimes I am so overcome in my desire to do other things that i sometimes don’t pay attention or even don’t watch some of my school DVD’s. The Lord has really convicted me about this and I’m working on fixing it because it’s starting to show up in my grades. I just really have never seen school as a privilege, more like a necessary evil to survive in the world. I really hate myself when I do this because I know I could do so much better if I really applied myself and paid attention. So if you could please pray for me it would be much appreciated.

rebelling against low expectations

The Rebelution is a teenage rebellion against low expectations—a worldwide campaign to reject apathy, embrace responsibility, and do hard things. Learn More →