Beth Moore calls students to center their lives on Jesus

During her first visit to Liberty University, Beth Moore speaks to students in Convocation.

Speaker and bestselling author Beth Moore visited Liberty University for the first time on Friday, addressing students in Convocation as part of the weeklong launch of Propel Women. The new movement is designed to help women in the marketplace learn how to interconnect their faith with their work, church, and home life.

The week kicked off at Monday’s Convocation with a message from Propel Women’s founder, Christine Caine. Nightly Q&A panels have been held throughout the week, featuring Caine and other guest speakers, including Liberty faculty members. Wednesday’s Convocation featured Terry Crist, pastor of Grace City Church and a member of the Propel team.

On Friday, Caine thanked Liberty’s administration for hosting the week and introduced Moore as the final speaker.

“This is not our finale, but this is our launch into the next phase of Propel Women,” she said. “When I was thinking about every human being I know in the world of Christendom to tie up the end of this week at Liberty and launch us into the next part, there was not another person I wanted except for Beth Moore.”

Moore is the founder of Living Proof Ministries, which teaches women how to love and live God’s word. She has authored numerous books and Bible studies, including “Breaking Free,” “Believing God,” and, most recently, “James: Mercy Triumphs.” She also hosts a Bible study every Wednesday on “Life Today” with James and Betty Robison.

Before Moore took the Convocation stage on Friday, Christian recording artist Kari Jobe led students in worship, along with the Liberty Campus Band.

Moore began with a general observation about humanity: people do what they want to do.

“People are not most driven by what they need to do (what they think society expects of them); they are most driven by what they want to do,” she said. “The number one driving force in the soul of every human is desire.”

Throughout the Bible, she said, Jesus always asked people what they were seeking and what they wanted for their lives.

“I have come to suggest to you today that what you need to do will only carry you temporarily; what will carry you for a lifetime is what you really want to do.”

She said the question on the table is whether or not we truly love Jesus.

“Jesus will not let go of that question, and He presses right into your face today. What if Jesus Christ became your ‘want to,’ instead of your ‘need to?’” she asked.

She added that Jesus should not only be someone we admire, but also the driving force behind our affections.

“You can love the Word of God, and still not love God. You can admire Him, be grateful to Him, appreciate Him, worship Him, and study Him. However, I am talking about something that is not just devotion, and not just discipline, but also passion,” Moore said.

She challenged students to ask God every day for six months to “be the driving desire of their life.”

“If we are caught up in that driving desire, we will want to be obedient,” she said. “If 13,000 students began to pray that prayer, we would begin to love Jesus with our whole hearts.”