College gets ever more expensive. Certainly, there are other ways to make a living that doesn’t require going to college. But if you do, how do you survive and thrive at college? Here are five ways.
1. Read Your Bible
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8, ESV).
It may seem so obvious it’s hardly worth saying. But if you are to survive and thrive at college you will need to invest time in reading your Bible. Why? Because college is all about shaping the way you think and feel. Your internal life.
And given that purpose, it’s especially important you spend time having your “mind” (not just intellectually but emotionally too) shaped by the Bible.
Try this: decide today to spend at least five minutes reading the Bible. I send out a daily devotional that goes through the whole Bible. You can register for that here.
2. Go to Church
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,
not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Again, too obvious? But in my experience, it is one of the primary indicators as to whether a college student will still be following Jesus after college or not. Yes, hanging out with cool worship with people your age is fun.
Yes, you can really do some great things with a campus student group. But in the end, you’re going to need to get used to going to church.
And the church is not just a group of people with an above-average IQ between the ages of 18 and 22. It’s essential if you are to survive and thrive at (and after) college that you go to church each week.
3. Do Evangelism
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37-38).
Seems surprising? Perhaps you are at a secular college. Or you are at a Christian college that is pushing some unbiblical ideas. One of the best ways to get out of the morass is actually to tell real-life people about the gospel.
What that does is it forces you to face up to the facts of life (and death) and to have an answer for the hope that you have.
It pushes you to move beyond fancy theories to practical, spiritual, gospel reality. Probably nothing is more important for someone studying theology, or engineering for that matter, than going out and telling some non-Christians about Jesus. That will wake you up pretty quickly.
4. Stay Humble
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble” (James 4:6).
There’s something about studying a lot that can give you a big ego. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up.
Also, colleges make their money out of marketing themselves to you, so they are sort of institutionally orientated to making you feel good about yourself, or at least if they are successful long-term, they will need to. It’s a bit of a toxic mixture.
While a good friend, or a good parent, will feel secure enough to tell you when you’re being an idiot, someone who’s paid to be on your side may just stroke your ego.
It’s never your fault, it’s always someone else’s fault. Stay humble. Look in the mirror first. Maybe I’m the problem, not them.
5. Think More
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD — (Isaiah 11:2).
Surprisingly, this one — though essential — I put last. If you are to stay sound, orthodox, and Christian, in your mind at college, you will need to think more not think less. I spent many years studying at or working near very secular universities.
My observation is that the students who think more are the ones who stay orthodox — and those who refuse to question their professors are the ones who go off the rails.
If you are to survive and thrive at college, you’ll need to be brave enough to actually think for yourself. Don’t get indoctrinated. Get educated.
For further reading:
5 Ways to Bounce Back from Failure
3 Ways to Remember That God Loves You
3 Ways Christians Can Respond to the Problem of Homelessness Today
Why Is Valuing God's Word So Important?
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/skynesher
