Welcome to College. If you are a Christian, you probably came to your college of choice fired up for Jesus. You came from your church on the peak of your Christian walk. Your church probably had a big senior day for you and you finally got the engraved Bible with your name on it. You show up ready to find the first Devotion on Campus, ready for the first Sunday you can go try out a new church in the area. A few weeks later though, you are buried in homework, you just want some sleep, none of your other peers are getting up for church, and frankly, mommy and daddy are not there to make you go. Congratulations, now the semester is over and you have just realized you did not get any closer to Christ, you might have even drifted away.
It is a terrible time of realization when you find out that you have not done what you needed to do for God. You are distraught and when you go home for Christmas break and go back to church with your youth group you are almost feeling like the anti-christ. The reason I can say all of this is because this was the half-truth for my first semester at college. I came so ready to dive into the love of God and serve Him in the prime of my life. I wanted him to be the center of everything I did. I still do. During my first semester it was so much harder than I had ever imagined.
I'm not saying that I did anything that was terrible. No, I did not go out and party. No, I did not get wasted so bad I had to have my roommate come get me. No, I did not go spray paint a cuss word on a random piece of structure somewhere. Yes, I did say "Man, I'm just not feeling going to church today. I need to catch up on sleep." Yes, I did leave my Bible closed for a long period of time. And yes, that was all that it took.
I'm not here to condemn you, but rather give some tips on ways to make it easier for you to Keep Your Faith in college. Firstly, It is ALL about the friends you keep. This applies to more than your Christian walk. This applies to the career you are working towards, the kind of relationship partners you want to attract, and the attitudes professors have about your final grade. Get friends who have the same Christian values and goals that you do. Mainly, friends that will make you accountable in all you do. That DOES NOT mean close up in only that circle of friends. That's the number one problems Christianity has today. Christians get caught up in cliques and do not reach out to the lost and broken.
GO. TO. CHURCH. This sounds so easy and is so easy to say, but it is really hard to go to a new church. Especially if you went to the same church your whole life in your home town. It is scary to visit somewhere new, but you have to do it. Try a lot of new places. Go somewhere where you feel comfortable and to a place you think will give you the tools to grow closer to God.
Finally, don't forget to read you Bible. God wants to speak to you, but you have to put a little into it also. God does not write what he wants from you each day on your ceiling (Oh, how I wish he did though). Get a Bible plan and try to read a certain amount each month and see where it takes you.
It is really a big process to come to college, pass your classes, have a social life, maintain your scholarships, try to not gain the "Freshman 15", and the list goes on... But, do keep God close to you and put him the center of it all. Read Matthew 6:33 and it will explain it all. I am going to leave you with...
James 4:8 (NIV) "Come near to God and he will come near to you..."
