College.
Society portrays it as the "time of your life." Culture says it is the time to find out who you are and discover the "real you." While all this pressure is put on college freshman to figure out who they are going to be the next four years and the rest of their young adult life, it is easy to forget there is much more to collegiate life than being the life of the party.
Almost every college freshman longs to figure out who they really are and what is truly important to them within the first semester of college. However, for most freshman, they have already figured out what they want their identity to be in before they even set foot on campus. Going into college with the mindset of "I'm going to go to all the frat houses" or "I'm going to be the most well-known freshman in my sorority" can cause that person to prematurely find their identity in those things. My question for you is what would happen if instead of coming into college with these ideas, freshman came in with the mindset of "I'm going to be the person God intends for me to be"?
More times than not, we want to be in complete control of every aspect of our life. If we step back and look at it, this is doing nothing but causing more stress and anxiety than necessary. God does not want that for us. In fact, He even asks us to give all of our anxieties to Him
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
Why should we waste time worrying about who we should be when God tells us to give Him all of our worries? Humans are so weak in the idea that we have to come off as perfect and be well liked across the board. As Christians, we are called to be in the world, but not of it. It's a no-brainer that being "of the world" includes forming ourselves to be well liked in a worldly view.
Trusting in God's timing when it comes to making friends and not taking it into our own hands is one of the toughest things to do for college freshman. Humans were created to be social creatures. It is biologically proven we were built for companionship. However, the people we tend to spend the most time with are the people we typically become more like. This can become a slippery slope in a lot of cases. Giving this small but important part of life to God can save us from a lot of heartbreak and pain in unhealthy relationships.
Constant worry, stress, and identity crisis all all things almost every college student has most likely struggled with. God's promises are so evident in these two verses:
"Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22
"We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin." Romans 6:6
God wants us to give Him all our problems. It may sound surprising, but He wants to hear about how crappy your day was or how that one class is impossible to pass. Keeping God as THE top priority in life will transform the rest of your college experience. Instead of asking how Christ can fit into college life, maybe we should instead ask how can our college life can fit into Christ.
