I’ve been chasing gold stars for as long as I can remember—stickers on homework, glowing remarks on job reviews, and later, A’s on college papers. Those stars were symbols of the hard work it takes to create something that shines. In a way, gold stars also reflect something deeper.

Real gold doesn’t come from easy wins; it comes from fire. It’s forged, refined, and made more beautiful through testing. Looking back, I can see that’s exactly what God was doing in me during college. When I entered an ethics class, which I thought would simply challenge my mind, it became the furnace where my faith was tested and refined like gold.

When debates about morality began—including whether long-standing biblical principles were still relevant—it became more than an academic test. It was a spiritual one.

In his letter to early believers facing their own kind of tests, Peter offered this reminder: “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold” (1 Peter 1:7 NLT).

I love exploring analogies like gold in this passage because they reveal so much about God and over time I began to see how this image helped me make sense of the trial I faced in school.

Gold is the most stable of all metals; it doesn’t react with oxygen or water, so it’s known for being remarkably slow to tarnish. In other words, once purified, gold doesn’t lose its shine even in a toxic environment.

At the time, I didn’t connect the dots, but now I realize those class debates, where biblical morality wasn’t just dismissed but pulled apart and argued from every angle, it forced me not only to defend my faith but to decide if I truly believed it enough to live it.

Gold is also the most malleable metal. It can be stretched and beaten without breaking.

Peter knew what it was like to bend under pressure too. He once insisted he would never leave Jesus, then denied Him three times in one night. Yet later, Jesus restored him and entrusted him with new responsibility. Peter’s story reminds us that failure doesn’t end faith—it can refine it (see Luke 22:54-62, John 21:15-19).

In class, I decided God was more important than a gold star. I was willing to withdraw, fail, or even be mocked for my beliefs if that’s what it came to because I had come to see God’s way as not only right but the best way, and that kind of faith is worth more than gold, because it outshines every reward this world can give.

Looking back, I see that the class wasn’t designed to destroy me. It was designed to expose weak spots and burn away what wasn’t true—just as the Refiner’s fire does with gold, just as God does with us. I did earn an A, but more importantly, I believe I earned a gold star from God for standing firm in my faith that His ways are the best ways.

So, if you’re facing a season where you feel stretched thin, or enduring a toxic environment to your faith, trust that God’s got you. 

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Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.