Running head: BIBLE INFLUENCE 1

Bible Influence on Moral Compass

Shameka Hatcher

Fresno Pacific University

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Do bible course and devotionals help with moral compass?

The bible has a magnitude of stories, letters and commandments that give information to

help the kingdom of God prosper. In our college courses we have been doing weekly devotionals

and partaking in bible courses through out our degree program. In the beginning, I was not

pleased with yet another course requirement that didn’t seem to move me any closer to my goal

of graduation. However, as I am moving closer to my completion date for Fresno Pacific

University, I am very pleased with my experience. Bible courses and devotionals have helped

improve my performance in my courses. My Christian beliefs and faith were sustained and built

in response to the courses and both required me to operated at the highest level morally.

The first Bible course I took in the university was Jesus and his community. Prior to this

course I had been an avid church attendee at my home church. I had taught Sunday school,

attended dozens of conferences, revivals and went to prayer and bible study weekly. I was sure I

knew a lot about what Jesus and his teachings involved. I was wrong. There were so many layers

to Gods commandments and how Jesus dealt with the people he came in contact with that I was

unaware of. The course led me to refocus on studying my bible in more depth and in doing so I

became a better Christian. The principles of the kingdom lead you to become completely

dependent on God. There were times in my degree program where I felt overwhelmed and I

didn’t have confidence that I could complete the coursework successfully. The bible courses

gave me new encouragement. They changed how I looked at my situation, how I felt about

myself. The bible courses also gave good information on how to move forward in my walk with

God. One of the main tenants of Jesus and his community was that he stressed helping others and

being generous to those in lack. I had always been generous but the course let me know that I

was moving in the right direction and I that gave another boost of self-confidence.
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Weekly devotionals have saved my life. They are such a small part of the course but one

of the most important. All devotionals were due in the beginning of each week’s assignments and

we had devotionals in the beginning of class. These devotionals helped put us in the mind frame

to trust God and proceed in a way that was pleasing to him. Every week we learned something

new about life with Jesus and it pushed us to be mindful of how we interact with the world

around us. Devotionals were used in my math course to reduce anxiety as it relates to the subject

matter. Every devotional removed any doubt that I had about not doing well or making excuses

for poor performance. As a result, I received the highest grade I’ve every gotten in my adult life

in a math course. In my past course’s devotionals were used to encourage good behavior in

interpersonal relationships. I recall a recent one that stated that when people do bad things to us,

we should write them in sand and let them wash away in the tides and when people do good

things, we should write them on stone and remember them forever. The metaphor explained that

there was no reason to hold on to faults and we are to be forgiving as the Lord has forgiven us an

unnumbered amount of time. The devotionals not only gave new information about God and his

word but it forced me to give my best effort.

It is easy to dismiss simple requirements as unimportant. However, the implementing or

bible courses and devotionals have the ability to change the entire university. The more we are

exposed to the word of God, the more we are exposed to positive behavior that will change or

actions. Bible courses give insight and useful information about how God deals with his people

and Devotionals give great reminders of his mercy and grace. As I have been exposed to both

frequently in the last eighteen months, I have found great value in their usage. In my opinion,

bible equals high morals.