My Moral Compass

Abigail Roe

Fresno Pacific University

ECD-470: Curriculum Development for Early Childhood Education

Instructor Daphne Bettis

February 13, 2023

 My Moral Compass

Throughout my time at Fresno Pacific University, I found that the devotions and prayer

before class were very beneficial to my mental health while navigating the program. To be

completely transparent, I did not always make time to complete my weekly devotion

assignments. However, when I sat with the devotions before class, I always found that I would

enter class time with a lighter state of mind. I am the type of student that dwells on my

schoolwork and lets the stress of assignments get to me. With the devotions, I could ground

myself and reflect on things in my life that I needed to focus on. During the times that I was not

able to take the time to focus on my devotions, I always found our devotional and prayer time

with our cohort before each class to be a warm and positive start to each class. With the comfort

of familiar faces with a common goal of wanting to see each other succeed, I always felt like

class began on a positive note.

As an educator, I believe the bible courses that are required in this program provide us

with a perspective that is important for any teacher to have, whether they are a Christian or not.

However, teachers with a Christian background can look to their biblical teachings in order to

have a greater understanding of how to enter a classroom with grace and patience for our

children. One of the topics that were focused on in one of my biblical classes was the importance

of serving and loving our students and communities as we love our own families and the Lord. It

should not matter whether or not the child or family comes from the same religious background

as you. This is not what it means to be a Christian and serving the Lord in the community.

I remember reflecting on Mattew 25:45 which states, “truly I tell you, whatever you did

not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” This verse really puts into perspective

what it means to truly serve the Lord. If we are not serving our neighbors that are in need, we are
not serving the Lord. God calls us to love everyone, not just our family or those who are easy to

love but to extend our love out to those who do not have the same luxuries that we have in our

lives. Matthew 20:25-27 takes this a step further and tells us that not only should we extend love

to those who are “below” us, but we should also serve those who have less than us and bring

ourselves down to be their servants. This includes loving our enemies as we would love anyone

else in the world.

Luke 6:27 calls us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. We must bless

those who hate us and pray for those who mistreat us. In order to follow these words, we need to

adjust how we react when we have wrongdoings done to us. When someone hurts you, do not

lash out and spew hate. Instead, pray for them and open your heart to love them. You do not need

to surround yourself with people who hate you, but you cannot let hate into your heart. Matthew

5:43-48 talks about loving your enemies as well. God allows the sun to rise on both people who

are good and people who are evil. Everybody deserves a chance from God. The verse describes

this as being “perfect.” In my opinion, being “perfect” in this sense is not allowing hate to enter

your heart and praying for everyone around you.

As teachers, our students should be the center of our lives in the classroom setting.

Children are perfect in God’s eyes, and therefore we should raise them up and give them the

same love that we want from God. If we are able to love our enemy, we are able to extend love

to every child that enters our classroom and see them as God sees them. This does not mean that

we must preach our religion to our students and tell them that they must God as we do. Instead,

we can know we are doing God’s work by lifting up the children that walk into our rooms and

letting them know that they are capable and worthy of love and acceptance. This is what God

would have wanted for His children.