5 Ways Remembering 9/11 Can Help Us Grow Closer to God
As I reflect on the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001, I find myself thinking not only about what happened that terrible day, but also about what God can teach us through remembering 9/11 that can help us grow spiritually.
I was a journalist on staff with Crosswalk.com that day, and I had planned to go into the office, but then decided to work from home. My daughter Honor had been at preschool, but as soon as I heard the first reports, I picked her up early and brought her home. She played nearby while I worked. I used a dial-up modem to connect to the internet while monitoring the news on television and chatting with people through Crosswalk.com’s online forum community. Then, I filed reports in real time throughout that day and evening.
At first, there was a lot of uncertainty. The news that morning about planes flying into the twin towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City was horrifying. We didn’t yet know what would happen next. Living in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., many of us wondered whether terrorists might attack the U.S. Capitol or the White House – especially after a plane struck the Pentagon, shortly after the twin towers were hit. There was fear and confusion all around us. I wrote about the stressful uncertainty people in our area were facing as we tried to understand what was happening.
After the Pentagon attack, shock and grief swept through our area as we realized that people right here had been killed. Later, I learned that someone from my church at the time (Church of the Apostles in Fairfax, Virginia) had died at the Pentagon. Her name was Angie Houtz. She was only 27 years old and worked there as a civilian senior analyst for the U.S. Navy. While I didn’t know Angie well, I remembered her radiant smile and had heard about her leadership in The Grate Patrol, which was a ministry that regularly prepared and served meals to people experiencing homelessness in Washington, D.C. She was faithfully using her gifts and her time to help others during the time God gave her to live.
Remembering 9/11 – and the people who passed away on that historic day, like Angie – reminds me of how quickly life can change. It also reminds me that painful memories can point us toward important truths about God and about how we should live. Whether we personally remember the events of 9/11 or we know about it only as an important time in history, here are 5 ways remembering 9/11 can help us grow closer to God.
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1. Remember that our time on Earth is limited.
1. Remember that our time on Earth is limited.
One of the clearest lessons of 9/11 is that none of us knows how much time we have left to live here on earth. Thousands of people left home that morning expecting just an ordinary day in their lives. They had plans. They had jobs to do. They had families to see. They had activities they thought they would do later. But for many of them, there was no later, because their earthly lives were suddenly over. We shouldn’t let that lead us to live in fear. Instead, it can inspire us to live with greater purpose.
The Bible tells us in Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” We can do that by recognizing that every day of our lives is a gift from God. Our time matters. Remembering 9/11 can cause us to ask ourselves some vital questions, like: “Am I spending my time on activities that really matter? Am I telling people I love them, or am I putting that off? Am I making time for God as the top priority in my schedule? Am I using the gifts and time God has given me to serve others?”
We don’t need to accomplish something extraordinary every day; we just need to be faithfully focused on how God leads us and faithfully available to follow up on God’s leading with action. Every ordinary thing we do with love – like giving our best work at our jobs, calling a lonely friend, cooking dinner for our family, or praying with our children – can lead to God’s extraordinary purposes being fulfilled. We just need to be willing to play our parts to contribute to God’s work in this world. Angie’s life reminds me of this. She was young, but she was already serving people in need regularly.
James 4:14 reminds us that life is “a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” That truth is sobering, but it can also be freeing. We all have limited time here. So let’s use today, and every day, as well as we can!
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2. Let tragedy teach us humility.
2. Let tragedy teach us humility.
Remembering 9/11 also reminds us that we aren’t in ultimate control of what happens – only God is. We like to make plans. We like to believe we know what tomorrow will bring. We make schedules, build careers, save money, plan vacations, and make long-term goals. There’s nothing wrong with planning. But 9/11 showed us how quickly circumstances can change. That realization should lead us toward humility.
Proverbs 27:1 points out: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” When we learn to be humble, we don’t think poorly of ourselves. Instead, we learn the important lesson that God is God, and we’re not. We don’t know everything. We can’t see the future or control other people or circumstances. We need God’s help all the time! That can be especially important when life is going well, and we’re tempted to think that we can handle everything ourselves. But remembering 9/11 can remind us that our security ultimately rests in God.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Christians will never experience tragedy. The people who died on 9/11 were not necessarily less loved by God than those who survived. Jesus tells us clearly in John 16:33 that we’ll all have to deal with trouble in this fallen world, but when we do, we can rely on him to help us: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” When tragedy hits us, we won’t always understand what God is doing. But we can still trust him – and we should do so. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
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3. Choose kindness while we have opportunities to do so.
3. Choose kindness while we have opportunities to do so.
After a tragedy, people often become more aware of one another. We saw this happen after 9/11. Strangers helped strangers in many wonderful ways. People gave blood, helped their neighbors with yard work, and did much more to intentionally put kindness into action. Whole communities came together as many people who had never thought of themselves as especially brave or generous found ways to help others. Remembering that spirit can challenge us today. We can easily become distracted by our own problems as we rush through our days. Then we may see someone who’s struggling and assume someone else will help. But God calls us to put kindness into action whenever we can.
Ephesians 4:32 urges us to: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” God will bring us lots of opportunities to be kind day by day. We can listen to someone who needs to talk. We can forgive someone who made a mistake that hurt us. We can say and do whatever God leads us to say and do on a regular basis to spread his love through kindness. Angie’s involvement in The Grate Patrol stands out to me for this reason. She had started to lead a ministry that regularly prepared and served meals to people experiencing homelessness in Washington, D.C. Instead of waiting for a crisis before caring about people, Angie made service a regular part of her life, despite how busy she was – and God blessed her with joy while she blessed people with kindness. That’s a wonderful example for us to follow!
Galatians 6:10 says: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people.” We have opportunities every day, and we won’t know long we’ll have them. So, when God gives us an opportunity to show kindness, we shouldn’t hesitate to do so.
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4. Remember that every person has great value.
4. Remember that every person has great value.
Remembering 9/11 can also remind us of the value of individual lives. Every one of the thousands of people who passed away on 9/11 was created and loved by God and had people who loved them, as well. Angie was one of God’s beloved children who was also loved by her family, friends, and coworkers. When we remember people this way, we can focus on how every person we encounter is someone who’s valuable because he or she is made in God’s image.
Genesis 1:27 reveals: “So God created mankind in his own image.” That includes people we agree with and people we disagree with, as well as people who are successful and people who are struggling. Jesus calls us to love all people – not just the people who are easy to love. In Matthew 22:39, Jesus urges us to: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Remembering 9/11 can help us do so by changing the way we look at the people around us. The person sitting next to us at church, the cashier at the store, the homeless person on the street, and all the difficult people in our lives all matter because they’re valuable to God. They’re all people God has created and loves – and God wants us to love them too.
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5. Let our fear and grief remind us to turn to God for help.
5. Let our fear and grief remind us to turn to God for help.
Finally, remembering 9/11 can teach us where to take our fear and grief. The events of that day brought enormous fear and grief into Americans’ lives. Many people lost loved ones. Others lost their sense of safety. The emotional wounds people suffered on 9/11 have lasted for years. But the Bible encourages us in Psalm 34:18 that: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
What a wonderful promise! Instead of telling us not to be afraid or sad, God promises to be near us in our pain. God will fight fear with us and help us when we’re grieving. When we remember painful events, we can bring those memories to God and honestly share our feelings with him. We can also help people who are dealing with fear and grief. Thankfully, death isn’t final for those who place their faith and trust in Jesus. In John 11:25, Jesus tells us: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.”
That promise doesn’t erase the pain of losing someone. But it does give us hope beyond the grave. Today, 25 years after 9/11, we can remember the lives that were lost without allowing fear to overwhelm us. We can grieve with hope and still worship God because he gives us hope. Our memories of fear and grief – from 9/11, and from other challenges we’ve gone through – can draw us closer to the God who is near to the brokenhearted.
In conclusion, while remembering 9/11 is painful, it’s also meaningful. It can remind us to use our time wisely, walk humbly with God, show kindness, value every person, and bring our fear and grief to God. Let’s honor those who passed away on that historic day by living our own days with greater faithfulness, as God leads us!
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Originally published September 10, 2026.
