This Thursday, October 5, hundreds of thousands of students across America will exercise their God-given and constitutionally protected freedom of religion by taking their Bible to school.

Bring Your Bible to School Day is a student-led event started by Focus on the Family in 2014 to encourage students to live out their faith at school. This event is celebrated annually on the first Thursday in October.

Last year, over 888,000 students participated by taking their Bibles to school. Those students represented more than 50,000 schools nationwide.

This event is for students attending any kind of school — public, private, or at home.

For students, Bring Your Bible to School Day is about courageously sharing their faith at school, exercising their freedom of religion, and positively influencing their peers.

Here are three tangible ways students can use this day to create opportunities to talk to their peers about the Bible:

1. Offer encouragement from the Bible to friends

The Bible is full of verses that can meet us where we are. In times of joy and celebration — and moments of anxiety, depression, or fear.

Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Students can have confidence knowing the Bible is alive and can bring encouragement to their friends who otherwise may not hear the eternal truth of God’s word.

For example, if a friend is feeling anxious, believers can share 1 Peter 5:7, which says we can cast our cares on Jesus because He cares for us.

2. Share your favorite verses with your friends

This event is the perfect opportunity to highlight what inspires you in the Bible. Write down some of your favorite verses and give them to your friends and teachers. Explain what that verse means to you. You never know who might need to hear those exact words at that very moment.

3. Influence your peers to be bold in living out their faith at school

When one student exercises courage to talk about their faith, it encourages others to do the same.

Some students might feel shy or uncertain talking about the Bible, but when someone proudly expresses his or her religious beliefs, it builds confidence in others.

Thank God for Bring Your Bible to School Day and the influence for good it is in schools all around the country.

Our schools are desperate for God’s truth, and our students have the opportunity to bring the Word of God and His light to those dark places. Amen!

Bring Your Bible to School is also an excellent opportunity for students to become educated on their constitutionally protected rights.

The First Amendment clearly protects the freedom of religion and speech. Students and parents can know with certainty that public schools cannot prohibit students from bringing their Bibles to school and sharing their faith in their free time on campus, whether it’s Bring Your Bible to School Day or any other day of the year.

And as students exercise their constitutionally protected rights, it helps to educate others on rights that we all share.

To learn more, visit the Bring Your Bible to School Day website.

 

Photo from Focus on the Family