The Ultimate Curve

As our Semester 1 Finals Week wraps up for our High School students, I am reminded of the worst final test grade I ever received. It was in an Advanced Calculus class my senior year at college. I earned a 29%. Yikes! I was devastated at my score, and equally frustrated with my professor. It seemed like all of my classmates were struggling in the class as well (my score was one of the highest). The instructor appeared unprepared and distracted as if the learning of his students was an afterthought for our busy professor. Apparently, our limited learning was par for the course. Our professor’s solution was to simply apply a generous “curve” to the test, earning me a C+ for my shameful 29% score. I continued to work hard to learn as much as I could for the rest of the course and, fortunately, improved my overall grade. But as an aspiring educator, the greatest lesson I learned was to prepare to become a very different kind of teacher!  

If complete mastery of Advanced Calculus appears challenging, God’s command to “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48) seems downright impossible. This year as we examine the Fruit of the Spirit in our weekly chapels, I am grateful our heavenly Instructor is a perfect one. He is never unprepared or caught off guard. He is fully committed to our redemption and transformation. But He also has high expectations for our development. Fortunately, His provision for us is far from inadequate.

He has chosen to empower us through the presence of His Holy Spirit, who resides in us. Our performance in the flesh will always need a significant “curve” to iron out our gaps in learning. But when we choose to walk in the Spirit, He has fully resourced the fruit He desires us to experience. Not in our own strength, but rather through our weakness, we can access His available power living inside of us. A power that constantly reminds us of our need for not only a Savior to redeem us but a Lord to lead us.

God’s mercy and grace in our lives are the ultimate “curve.” He has made all of our tests 100%. Our names are written in his Heavenly grade book, and He will promote us to eternity with Him. Until then, despite our imperfect test scores, He has given us all the correct answers through His Spirit. The ultimate lesson is to work less on fixing ourselves and work out our salvation by allowing God to fix His world through Jesus in us. ​