Halfway through the semester, my stress was at a high point and only a small part of it was directly attributable to my classes. I'm heavily involved in many extracurriculars and campus organizations, such as the Honors Program, a Panhellenic sorority and a couple other clubs. I'm also the Editor-in-Chief for the Odyssey on my campus. My Lilly planner is full of meetings, coffee dates, events, socials...the list goes on. I found myself torn between having time for myself or fulfilling every obligation I had written down. It left me feeling spread thin, tired and feeling bad about myself. I just felt like I couldn't do enough for people.

But something changed last week. The Bible app on my phone sends me a verse of the day every 24 hours, and the verse one day this week was exactly what I needed to hear.

Galatians 1:10: "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." (ESV)

I was spread so thin because I was working toward a goal of pleasing myself and other humans (some of which don't even exist yet, like future bosses and law school admissions officials), and while slogging through the quagmire of making commitments and meeting deadlines and serving the masters of socialization and resume improvement, I had failed to take adequate time to lay down my burden at the feet of my Lord and Savior.

At the beginning of the semester, before I got real busy, I would wake up every morning to read my Bible and reflect and pray just to have time alone with God (T.A.G.). Instead of staying consistent with that, I got in a routine of staying busy during the day and then staying up late working and then watching Netflix to unwind. As a result, I no longer had a half hour in the morning to dedicate to my T.A.G. time and would only read my Bible sporadically when I had free time and felt like I "needed" it.

And that's where I went wrong.

Galatians 1:10 reminded me that our ultimate aim as followers of Christ is to serve Him, not other people. We shouldn't open our Bibles when we're at the end of our rope to search for a verse to make us feel better. We should read it in both good and bad times, and it should give us a spirit of peace, humility, grace, and mercy. If we do that, we will not allow ourselves to spread too thin because we will know better than to allow ourselves to arrive at that point.

If every word we speak, step we take and plan we make is to glorify Him and further His kingdom, we will be continuously fulfilled and our hearts will be at peace and overflowing with love for Him and for other people.

So, as college students how do we do this? How are we supposed to maintain a competitive GPA and make useful connections and be well-rounded while at the same time serving Jesus?

I don't know the answer, and if I did I wouldn't be writing this article. But, as Jeremiah Carlson and NF say in, "I'll Keep On," my life will always have a hole if You are not the centerpiece, and I feel strongly, that if we just keep reminding ourselves of that, it makes it easier.

So, at the end of the day, when you're stressed and anxious beyond belief, remind yourself of Galatians 1:10 and of the one you should be serving, and be at peace.