Lydia Owens, a South Carolina public high school class president and valedictorian, stepped out in faith while addressing her classmates in her commencement speech — and her words of Christian belief quickly went viral. (SEE part of the speech in the video at top of this article.)
Owens, 18, recently graduated from Woodmont High School in Piedmont, South Carolina. She told Fox News Digital in a recent phone interview that she found out right after Christmas that she was “kind of in the running for class valedictorian.”
After her first semester of senior year, it was solidified, she said.
She said she “debated for a long time … how to approach talking about my faith in my speech.”
“I was talking about how I was a little worried about how people would respond to me talking about my faith, but I told my friends that I really wanted to talk more about Jesus in my speech.”
Lydia Owens, above, valedictorian and senior class president at Woodmont High School in Piedmont, South Carolina, told graduation attendees and her fellow graduates that her faith sustained her in recent hardships in her life. (FOX Carolina)
Owens said that her friends responded, “Well, why wouldn’t you? You know, aren’t we supposed to be bold in our faith? And when are you going to have another opportunity to speak in front of thousands of people?”
She continued, “Actually, when they told me that, I was like, ‘You know, that’s a really good point. Why would I not?’”
She added, “And I truly believe that’s what he did. I don’t think those were my words — I didn’t come up with that. Jesus told me to write that and I just followed what he told me to do.”
“God promises that his grace is sufficient for us and his power is made perfect in our weakness.”
Owens’ mother died two years ago, she said. Her mom, she said, was “an ideal example to me of how to live our Christian faith.”
Lydia Owens said her mother “loved everyone intentionally” and would “go out of her way to talk to people about Jesus.” (FOX Carolina)
She said of her mom’s passing, “It’s so, so difficult. It’s only been two years, and so it’s definitely still a pretty fresh wound.”
Owens noted that she and her family “take each day as we as we can, and we talk about it and we’re still working through it. We’re a lot better than we were.”
Owens continued, “She was so active in our church and in our community and in my school. She was just constantly thinking to bring others to Jesus.”
Said Owens, “That was so inspiring for me, growing up. I always wanted to be like my mom. I always wanted to have the heart that my mom had. She definitely is a huge reason I have such a strong faith.”
“People around me were crying,” she said, “and then my friends are like, ‘They don’t know who you are, but I get to know who you are.’”
Her friends were “very encouraging, very supportive, and it was very comforting.”
Through her valedictorian speech, Owens’ brother was “able to have a gospel conversation with his co-workers,” she said. (iStock)
Owens has one younger brother and two older brothers, she said. She also has her dad, who was “very excited, very emotional, very proud of me.”
She added, “Because I talked about my faith in my speech, my brother said his coworkers were asking questions about God.”
“I just don’t think that anyone would regret having a relationship with Jesus, and I hope people can really understand that.”
During the beginning of her speech, which centered around her Christian faith, people erupted in applause — which she was “not expecting at all,” she said.
‘AI JESUS’ TALKS DATING, RELATIONSHIPS, MORALS – EVEN OFFERS VIDEO-GAMING TIPS
“As soon as that happened, I was like, ‘OK, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. God is doing this.'”
“I just don’t think that anyone would regret having a relationship with Jesus.”
She added, “I kind of talked about this in my speech. If they’re feeling lost and unsatisfied, I don’t think that they will lose anything by trying to find Jesus.”
The young woman noted that this can be done in many ways.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP