The Bible has shaped my life. It has made me who I am in every way. It has fashioned my mind and how I think; my heart and what I feel; and my soul—my being—and how I want to give every day of my life to God's will, glory, and commandments. For, ultimately, that is what the Bible represents to me and billions of others: God as Creator, full of mercy and grace; Christ as His son, who sacrificed himself to grant us salvation; and everything within as examples of God’s glory since the beginning of time. These beliefs were key to the birth of our nation and the revolutionary changes that separated the United States of America from the rest of the world.
For these reasons, when I think of all the great freedoms, rights, and opportunities of America, I look up to the God of the founding fathers and see his guiding hand in all of it. The first sentence of the Declaration of Independence justifies the formation of the USA as an entitlement by the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God[1]. The second sentence is even more striking and inspiring:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
I know that I am part of the American legacy. I am sure of my place in the world as a man equal to all others, endowed by my Creator with the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Our country was founded on the concepts stated in the Declaration of Independence, which embodied the ideas and beliefs of the men that stood up against tyranny and fought for their rights. Just as the justification of their actions was based in the precepts of the Bible and the God of the Bible[2], my faith and decisions throughout life are based on my Biblical convictions in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
I have been called to know our Creator and His son, Jesus, through God’s inspired Word, the Bible. I have tried to love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, and mind[3]; and I feel a deep sense of pride and heritage when I know my goals and principles are the same as the great men who gave birth to this magnificent nation. Moreover, I have an even deeper connection to the men and women of the thirteen colonies. My mother is a Thai citizen whose father is Lao and mother is Thai, and my father is a 3rd generation Italian-American. Their roots lie in countries thousands of miles away, but they have come to a place where different cultures, religions, and identities can coexist. Not only are they examples of the immigrants from England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, and Holland that came to America in search of freedom from persecution of just a better life, they also possess an important element the made E Pluribus Unum[4]: my parents believe in God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible. This was a common link between the majority of the colonists who, although from many different backgrounds and cultures, all knew that their beliefs were based in the same inspired book: the Bible.
The colonists and founding fathers stood up for their natural rights—endowed by the Universe’s greatest Power—in the face of the destruction by the world’s “greatest power” (Great Britain). Likewise, I will stand by my faith, my beliefs, and my convictions under the onslaught of persecution, disapproval, and discrimination, just as the first Americans did long ago. For if I practice my faith in the Bible, which I know is right, I will be following the hopes, dreams, truths, and beliefs of the people that made the United States of America—what greater legacy could there be?
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