Ways to Pursue Christ in College
After graduating from a Catholic grade school and high school, it was very important to me to attend a Catholic university. My faith in Christ was strong at this point in my life and I had hoped that after finding a community of Christ followers and continuing to pursue God in college I would grower closer to Him. However, this was not the case. The reality was that in college I had never felt so alone and abandoned by God. At the time I was struggling to adapt to college life as well as was going through some major family issues. All the while, I was wondering where God was during these trying times and why He was letting these things happen to me.
One of the most difficult, yet transforming experiences I had while at Marquette was that I had so many questions about my faith and was challenged even more to continue to seek Christ’s guidance in my life. College definitely helped me find a group of people that shared in my same beliefs and values as well as explore my spirituality without feeling guilty about questioning His presence in my life.
Fortunately, after some time had passed, I found ways to pursue Christ in every season of my life during my college years.
1. Spend Time Alone with Yourself and with God
When I was starting to believe that God had lost faith in me, I stopped going to church. I thought that there was no way that sitting in a church would bring me back to Christ so I searched for God outside of church. I spent more time by myself in quiet places or out in nature surrounded by His creation and ended up learning more about myself and what I needed to do to bring myself closer to Christ. A few weeks later, a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go to church with her. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go back just yet, but it ended up being the best thing I could do for myself. I will never forget the way I felt walking in the church doors, overwhelmed by God’s grace, when He welcomed me home.
2. Find a Community of Christ Followers
After two years of not having a solid group of friends that had the same values I did, I looked into finding a group I could join within our Campus Ministry. I joined Cru, a community of Christ followers that meet every week to focus on growing closer together to one another and to Christ through song, prayer, and discussions about passages in the Bible. It is not for everyone, but it definitely helped me find a group of people that I could talk to about my faith and any questions that I had.
3. Ask Questions
After holding in all of my curiosities and questions, I had become so overwhelmed and distant from Christ. I remember feeling like I was the only Catholic that had all of these thoughts in my head about and was scared to reveal them to anyone in fear that they might question my faith in God. However, after talking to some members in Cru, I realized I was not the only one that felt this way and I was able to have some very open and in depth discussions that helped give me a better understanding of my thoughts and in the end helped bring me closer to Christ.
4. Seek Rest
When you are spending time exploring your spirituality and relationship with Christ, it is important to seek rest with yourself. This does not mean catching up on sleep or starting a yoga class. It means that you are delving deeper into who you are as a follower of Christ and within yourself on a soulful level. If you are feeling lost or troubled, it is important to remember who you are and build the person you want to be. You must not settle for situations or relationships that are not worthy of who you are or are preventing you from becoming the person you want to be. Spend some time mediating with yourself and writing down exactly what you need to calm the storms within your heart.
5. Start Bible Journaling
Bible journaling is something that I just started doing this year, but it has become one of the best ways to become closer to Christ and reflect on God’s word. It is also a great time doodling and crafting reminders within the margins to remember the messages and think of them throughout times of joy and in times of grief.
6. Be Intentional
Another great way to bring yourself closer to Christ is by challenging yourself to find God in all things and live your life in a way that pleases Him. To be intentional means to pursue exactly what you want or are striving for and do whatever you can to get closer to achieving your goal. Whether it is to focus on building a closer relationship with God or working toward getting better grades in school, being intentional is the key to building purpose and achieving your goals.