JACKSON, Tenn. — July 28, 2018 — Graduates must take advantage of opportunities to do good and serve others so that God is glorified, said Dottie Myatt, retired assistant dean for teacher education and accreditation at Union University.
Myatt gave the commencement address at the summer commencement service July 28. She spoke on verses from Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Colossians 3:17 and 23. She said each of these verses addresses how believers should go about their work, and each begins with the word “whatever.”
“That word “whatever” is significant,” Myatt said. “It means there are no restrictions to the amount of work or the degree of importance of your work. No task is too menial or too great, so whatever your hand finds to do, give 100 percent, because you are working for the Lord, not man, and bringing glory to the Lord Jesus.”
Myatt said each of the graduates is called to serve, and service to their employers and others is service to God. She said each of their hands was made uniquely to fulfill a purpose God has called them to, and together they tell a story that can impact the world.
“Doing everything in the name of the Lord Jesus or being conformed to the image of God allows the gospel in us to be lived out in our words and deeds,” Myatt said. She said each of the graduates made it to commencement because they seized an opportunity provided by God to pursue a degree, and those degrees will open doors to even more opportunities for service.
Myatt encouraged graduates to work for the glory of God, not their own glory. She said this realization can revolutionize a working environment.
“When we work for our own reward and advancement, we do it with a clenched fist,” Myatt said. “But my prayer is that you will approach each step of your future with open and outstretched hands, surrendering all control to God’s leadership and accepting his grace.”
More than 120 students received their diplomas at the summer commencement. The event took place in the G. M. Savage Memorial Chapel on Union’s campus.