How to Live for God in College

If you’re one of the many students getting ready to head off to college this fall, you probably are experiencing lots of different emotions. You might be scared, maybe a little excited, or maybe even unsure of what the future might hold for you.

For most students, college is one of the first times they will be living on their own. Many of the rules, guidelines and curfews they had as a kid are suddenly gone, and as a college student they’re left having to make life choices on their own. How do you live a Godly life at an university or college where you have so many choices and where many of the students aren’t living for God?

Here are a few things that will help you live for God while going to college.

1. Find godly friends. One of the best things you can do if you want to live for God in college is to find a group of good friends who love God. You can do this by search online to find a church near your school that offers a college age Bible study. Or find out if there’s a group that meets on your college campus to worship God together. Do your research and find friends that are dedicated to serving God like you are. Decide to hang out with the people you meet in these groups. Godly friends will help you stand strong when your faith at college feels tested. They will help you make good decisions and be someone you can talk to when you need advice or wisdom.
2. Have a solid foundation. You’ve got to be solid in what you believe if you’re going to live for God in college. You can’t just base your faith in God on what your parents believe, or what you heard preached at youth group. You’ve got to know what you believe and why you believe it. If you don’t when the challenges of college come to you, it will be much harder to live for God.
3. Set up your own rules.  You might not have your parents telling you what to do, but you can benefit by setting some of your own rules. For example, if you don’t want to mess up sexually with your girlfriend or boyfriend, then make some rules for how you’re going to stay pure. Decide that you won’t be alone together in your dorm room. Or that you won’t sit on the bed together. Setting up your own rules will help you from pushing any of the boundaries. Choose ahead of time a strategy for staying out of trouble and set up good rules to keep yourself in check.
4. Don’t compromise. This is huge. Decide to not compromise in any area. Even the small stuff. You won’t have a parent or guardian looking over your shoulder all the time, so you have to determine on your own to not compromise. Compromise in even the smallest area can lead to bigger and bigger compromises. Eventually you’ll be heading down a path that you didn’t intend. But it starts with choosing not to compromise even in the small things.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. – 1 Cor 10:13 (KJV)

Living for God in college is possible. You can come out on the other side and still love God and live for Him. However, its not just going to happen. You’ve got to set up a plan and choose not to compromise in any area. If you do these things, you’ll find that you can live for God at college.

Do you have any advice for students on living for God in college? We’d love to hear about it in the comments section below!