{"id":18537,"date":"2024-06-10T10:34:55","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T14:34:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/?p=18537"},"modified":"2024-06-10T10:34:55","modified_gmt":"2024-06-10T14:34:55","slug":"valedictorian-gives-powerful-graduation-speech-your-worth-is-found-in-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/inspirationreport\/2024\/06\/valedictorian-gives-powerful-graduation-speech-your-worth-is-found-in-jesus.html","title":{"rendered":"Valedictorian Gives Powerful Graduation Speech: ‘Your Worth is Found in Jesus’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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@waynebray\/X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her now-viral graduation speech, valedictorian Lydia Owens of Woodmont High School in South Carolina reminded her fellow graduates to find their worth in Jesus. Owens has many things to be proud of. As a valedictorian, she holds the highest grades in her class, and she has worked hard throughout her life to achieve academic success. However, when tragedy struck two years ago before her graduation speech, the valedictorian realized her identity was rooted in something more powerful than worldly success.<\/p>\n

Owens started her speech by challenging her peers to consider what success means to them. Things like dream jobs, good grades, and wealth may sound like success, but Owens warned her classmates to look deeper. She said, \u201cWhen you decide what success means to you, understand that the things you will accomplish in your lifetime do have value. However, your successes do not make you valuable because you are so much more than how well you perform. If you believe you are only good enough if you succeed, what happens when you fail?\u201d Placing your identity in the things of this world will disappoint you because they are only temporary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The valedictorian learned this lesson firsthand a few years before delivering her inspiring graduation speech. At just 16 years old, Owens lost her mother. In her graduation speech, the valedictorian reveals that up until that point, she had prioritized getting \u201cperfect\u201d grades above all else. She put schoolwork before everything else in her life. She told the crowd, \u201cEver since I can remember, I\u2019ve always wrestled with perfectionism. I placed my value in my academic achievements. To me, success meant being perfect.\u201d However, all of that changed when her mom passed away unexpectedly.<\/p>\n

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Lydia Owens recently delivered a speech at the Woodmont High School graduation ceremony, where she was recognized as the school’s Valedictorian and Senior Class President. Lydia is the daughter of our Executive Pastor, Brian Owens. So it might not surprise you that she mentioned\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/MISArwjjPn<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Wayne Bray (@waynebray) June 1, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n