If you are or have ever been a college student, you know that this time of the year is a bundle of rest and stress.

Rest because of the holidays.

Stress because final papers and exams are incoming.

Now, I’m on a MLOA so I don’t technically have any papers to write or exams to sit, but I’ve got a lot of friends who are in the thick of it.

One friend in particular has a 20 page+ whopper of a paper coming due on Alexis de Tocqueville, and she already knows this, but I am praying for you!

Because last spring I had a 20 page-er to write, and it low key made me want to die.

But take heart because that paper turned out alright!

You can actually read it here if you’re in the mood to vicariously poke a few naturalistic scientists in the eye.

ANYWAYS.

Thinking about and praying for all my dear friends in finals land brought to mind something I’ve been wanting to write about for a very long time, and it is this:

The value and importance of citing your sources.

I’m not even kidding.

Friends, citing your sources is of the utmost importance!

For why?

Well…

1. It gives credit where credit is due.
2. It helps you recall the sources you used.
3. It prevents plagiarism (i.e. taking credit for things you didn’t do).

AND HERE’S THE THING.

These reasons for citing your sources apply not only to papers but to life in general.

And if you ask me, they’re seriously beneficial.

So today, I want to discuss why it’s both worthwhile and important to sit down and cite your sources.

1. It Gives Credit Where Credit Is Due.

A little over a week ago, a friend of mine sent me an email with an excerpt from an essay she’d written wherein she mentioned me.

Yeah. I know.

I’m not going to front.

I was a little bit scared to read because Lord knows there’s a lot someone could say about me–much of it not particularly flattering, especially since she knew pre-Cultiv8ing Character me.

However!

This friend is an absolute sweetheart, and the excerpt was so freaking encouraging.

To be clear, it wasn’t like she waxed poetic about me or anything.

It was just a reflection on how our friendship had helped her practice diplomacy.

*grins.*

Friends, she is most definitely the diplomat in our relationship.

In all seriousness, though, I doubt she could’ve guessed just how much reading her words meant to me.

Generally speaking, I don’t think we grasp how life-giving acknowledging someone for the good they do or the positive way they’ve impacted us can be.

After all, how much can a citation really mean?

I’ll just say that personally, an encouraging word from another friend a little over a year ago was the difference between life and death for me.

So yes, I know it can be a bit of a hassle to identify good things in another human being, reflect on how they have affected you personally, and then express both things clearly.

BUT!

In the case of both people and papers, I think citations are well worth the effort because giving credit where you think credit is due is saying,

“I see something worthwhile in you.”

And golly gosh, friends, that’s something we’ve got to do.

I mean, Hebrews 10:24 says we’re meant to spur one another on and encourage one another to love and good deeds, and to that end, a citation, a shout out, a word of encouragement can be just what the people in our lives need.

And here’s the crazy thing!

Giving credit where credit is due is not only good for the person you’re citing.

It’s also good for you.

2. It Helps You Recall The Sources You Used.

If you know me, you know I love to read.

In fact, my childhood dream was to have a Beauty & The Beast-esque library.

Lowkey still a dream.

However!

I fully recognize that a library that big would have WAY more books than I could ever read, and in the past, I’ve struggled to keep track of the books I’ve read already!

See, I don’t know about you, but I forget things.

Frequently.

Goodreads says I’ve read a book, and I’m like,

Could not tell you what’s inside the pages to save my life.

But apparently, this isn’t just a me thing!

According to a fair bit of research, it only takes ONE MONTH for most people to forget 90% of something they’ve read/heard/watched/experienced/etc.

One month and 90% is just poof!

Gone.

Is that not absurd?

I think it’s absurd, but take heart because the fix for this is pretty straightforward!

Common sense and experts concur that the best safeguard against the so-called “forgetfulness curve” is repeated exposure.

Now, I’m sure most of us do not have the time to recollect and rehash everything we’ve ever read/heard/watched/experienced/etc.

HOWEVER!

I think it behooves us to earmark and cite the major contributors.

Personally, I keep a running document of book quotes, poetry, movie clips, lyrics, Bible verses, and anecdotes that I find particularly funny, poignant, or interesting so I can cite them more easily.

And here’s the thing!

The more I cite them, the easier it is to recall and recite them verbatim (which, I have to admit, is a pretty neat party trick).

But more importantly!

Citing the things I’ve read/heard/watched/experienced/etc. hasn’t only improved my memory.

It’s humbled me.

Significantly.

Because I’m constantly reminded that innumerable sources have informed and poured into me, making what I do little more than repackaging.

Which brings me to reason #3 why citing your sources is a great, good thing!

3. It Prevents Plagiarism (i.e. Taking Credit for Things You Didn’t Do).

Last month, I was listening to a talk by Oxford Professor Emeritus and triple doctorate John Lennox wherein he said,

“You know, scientists of all people ought to be very humble. Have you noticed–I hope you have–that scientists did not create the universe? No–they didn’t put it there! And you know another thing, they didn’t create the human brain! They study a given with a given, so they ought to be very humble people… We are nothing but what we have been given.”

That, my friends, is a hot take.

Claiming we are nothing but what we have been given in an age when being “self-made” is all the rage is not a very PC thing to say.

But I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.

Like a lot, a lot.

Not least because I recently found an IQ assessment I had in pre-K which put me in the “very superior intelligence” category.

Now, my IQ has clearly declined precipitously, but the more important point is that at the tender age of three, I’d done nothing to earn or deserve that designation.

Trust me.

I had absolutely no role in my supposedly “very superior intelligence” unless there is a hitherto unknown positive relationship between IQ and sticking crayons in expensive electronics.

Rather, my mind–indeed my life–was and is a gift.

I can’t take credit for it.

And that, friends, is so freaking important yet all too easy to forget.

It’s incredibly tempting to take credit for our gifts, especially when we’ve slaved over their development, but last I checked, you still have to cite your paper’s sources no matter how hard you worked on it.

See, in the end, citing your sources comes down to acknowledging two things:

Origin and ownership.

When you fail to cite, what you’re saying is

“I did this. This is mine.”

Instead of gratitude what you’ve got is an attitude.

Plagiarism is, after all, ultimately an issue of pride.

We think we can get away with that lie.

We won’t get caught.

It’ll be totally fine.

Taking credit for something you didn’t do isn’t even that big of a deal, right?

I suggest you ask the person you plagiarized.

See what they say.

I have a niggling suspicion it won’t be “Okay!”

All that to say,

Giving credit where credit is due…

Recalling the sources that have poured into you…

And not taking credit for things you didn’t do…

Are, if you ask me, really good life rules because while our gifts are presently ours to use (or abuse), I believe there is a capital G Gifter we are ultimately accountable to.

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” –Job 1:21

That’s all for this week!

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