“Whatever you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.”
Colossians 3:17 CEB
With college, comes stress, discouragement, and financial burdens. It also comes with finding friendships, passions, and opportunities. With whatever college throws at you, give thanks to God through it all. It’s hard to stay faithful in college, especially to grow in your faith. Some students actually discourage religion and church related groups. I’ve found myself even being embarrassed to pray over my food whenever eating in the cafeteria. But God tells us to not be ashamed, to praise his name loud and clear in Luke, Mark, Timothy, the list goes on.
I know you don’t have your parents to keep you accountable anymore, maybe you think you have too much homework, or maybe you are just lost or confused in your faith right now. I know college is busy, I know it’s overwhelming sometimes, but you can find your strength in God. Wake up an hour earlier, get dressed, and drink a cup of coffee on the way to a church near you. Ask a friend to tag along. Believers are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We cannot do that in the comfort of our own beds or at a desk doing chemistry homework. As students, there are things we can do to glorify God on campus and in our own communities. Volunteer at soup kitchens, orphanages, hospitals, homeless shelters, nursing homes, etc. Like I said, I know you are busy. But we are never too busy for Jesus because Jesus has never been too busy to hear our prayers and heal our hearts.
Here are a few tips to staying faithful in college:
- Create a plan
- Set goals for yourself, maybe try and read a chapter of the Bible a day, find a daily devotional on the bible app, or start small and promise to yourself you will say one prayer a day.
- Turn your phone off!
- How many times have you tried doing homework on your phone and five minutes in you realize you have been scrolling through twitter for the last two minutes? Yeah, me too. The same thing happens when trying to find alone time to focus on the word of God.
- Have a place
- Find a quiet place where you aren’t going to be interrupted—whether that be in you room or the back corner of Starbucks.
- Find a community
- Believers can keep each other accountable. Join a ministry on campus. I am a member of Delight Ministries and several organizations within my own church that are available at my university. Go online or ask a friend to find organizations near you!
- Seek Him
- “Draw near to Him and He will draw close to you. -James 4:8
Do you notice how on exam day you see people who you never knew existed? That’s how some people are with Jesus. You can’t expect to ace an exam in a class you never attended or cracked open a book for, just as you can’t expect to feel close to God if you are not putting in any effort of your own. You will be surprised at what happens once you decide to put all of your heart into the hands of Jesus!