Li-en provides some insightful tips for those among us who are in (or, are preparing to go to) a local or overseas University. Many of her tips can be extended to normal schooling life. No matter which stage of life God has placed you in, there’s definitely something for you here! This is the fourth post in our series ‘Community and Fellowship’.
So, why are you going to university?
Perhaps you have never considered this question. After all, isn’t it something that everyone says is good for you? You know, finish school, perhaps try to enter into University, get a job…most of us don’t even question this aspiration.
But yet, entering University without a clear purpose and adopting an overly “let’s wait and see how things go” attitude can result in you being tossed by the waves of whatever comes your way… and you may find yourself in a place that you never intended to be in – literally or otherwise. Unfortunately, this is the experience of too many young people – Christians included. So hear me out:
Don’t waste this incredible season of your life!
Lived rightly, this can be a most life-giving, transformative and incredible time, one that will lay a solid foundation for the rest of your adult life, charting the course for a life lived fully for the glory of Christ. Yet wasting it is only too easy! Here in this article, I would like to share 7 surefire ways to waste this golden season of your life:
1. Not study
Wait, don’t people go to university to study? Well, you’ll be amazed at how many people matriculate into expensive universities only to end up trying to cut lectures, skip tutorials, not pay attention in class, and generally do anything but study.
Aside from the obvious downside of not doing well academically, the main reason why we should study (and diligently[1]) is because it honours God, and is the fitting response of worship to Him.
“whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31).
How can we study for the glory of God if we are not even studying?? We are to be good stewards of the blessings that God has given us – in this case, an opportunity to be trained and educated in a university (a huge blessing!) – and should take very seriously the God-given opportunity to be trained rigorously for the work that He has prepared for us to do after graduation. Also, being a bad student is a terrible testimony to those around you (your family, course mates.etc).
2. Not have spiritual conversations with your university friends
This time of your life is extremely fertile ground for talking about faith & worldview. There is no season of life when people are more unencumbered by the burdens of life (no mortgage, no spouse, no kids..), and more eager in searching for meaning, purpose and identity than when in University. Plus, with your minds already steeped in deep rumination on philosophies, theories, and perspectives from the best minds in human history (assuming you are doing your uni readings diligently), you are naturally already primed to have discussions that revolve around the deepest questions of life.
“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ” (Philemon 1:6).
When I was in university I joined some fellow Christians for weekly street evangelism,[2] spending time on the walkways of our campus grounds, seeking out random strangers to have conversations about God, life, death and meaning, and, if the opportunity arose, to share about my Christian faith. I was constantly amazed by how many people stopped to chat, and how rich and deep many of those conversations turned out to be! More than that, I was amazed at how I ended every weekly session filled with so much more conviction about the faith I had, fired up for the souls of those I had just spoken to. The words of Paul are true – the one who shares his/her faith ends up being super blessed with a deeper understanding of our own blessings in Christ.
3. Not seek the Lord’s face
To be fair, all of life, not just university life, will be completely wasted if we are not seeking God in it. Period.
Unless you can echo the Psalmist when he says:
“One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4).
…you are not truly living the full life that Jesus came to give (John 10:10). Run to Him, ask Him to open the eyes of your heart to see His glory, taste His goodness, and thirst for His righteousness. Living for anything else is a second rate life. Don’t settle for that, when Jesus came to give you so much more! Are you finding it hard to do this? See points 4 and 7 below.
4. Not spend time alone
Try to resist the strong pull to FOMO. I know it’s hard. You want to be where the ‘party’ is. And with social media, where the ‘party’ is is made abundantly clear (and hence your absence/ exclusion). University life is buzzing with frenetic social energy (especially if you live on campus), and who likes feeling left out? But, please hear me out –
Resist.
I’m not saying be a social hermit (quite the opposite!), but I’m talking about the unhealthy obsession with constantly needing a full social calendar and always feeling unfulfilled and afraid of being by yourself.
It’s ok to spend time by yourself. Repeat after me: it’s o-k-a-y. In fact, it’s good or you. Nobody is going to remember that party a few months / years from now. It’s not going to matter. But the person you become in University will. Take time to think. Take time to pray. Take time to read. Take time to form and be your own person. There will never be a time in your life again that lets you do this as much as in University.
“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever” – Westminster Shorter Catechism.
More importantly, as a Christian, spending time alone WITH GOD simply enjoying Him is one of the most fundamental and important disciplines you need to learn how to develop. If you can schedule a 2 hour coffee date with your friends and make time for that, why can’t we value exclusive time with God just as much and actually give Him a prime audience in our lives – alone?
5. Not start caring about social justice
I first encountered the idea of biblical social justice when attending a Christian conference during my university days. It was a watershed moment for me, as I had never really considered what the bible meant by commanding us to “act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Many books, sermons, conference talks and walks around Geylang with Christian groups later, God brought me through a journey of discovering how much “doing justice” was part of His heart and will, and should be a concern for any serious Christian proclaiming to follow Him. (For a good primer on this, try reading Tim Keller’s “Generous Justice”).
Thankfully for you, university is usually a place brimming with such initiatives and action groups (in fact, I often encountered NUS students while on my walks in Geylang befriending the socially destitute). Go join that effort by the university’s Christian group to feed the hungry. Befriend the homeless. Serve the migrant. Be a voice for the destitute. Combat human trafficking. And if none of this is being done – start something!
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).
If you’re not going to start to take action at this age, the inertia against doing so will only grow and not diminish as you enter into the workforce.
6. Not be satisfied in your relationship status
Watching everyone around you pair up rapidly while you remain without a romantic partner can be a very testing experience. I spent my entire university life as a single, so I know what it’s like. It wasn’t easy, especially if you crave emotional intimacy, and ultimately, desire the gift of marriage.
But this is an excellent opportunity to train our hearts to wait upon God. If you are single today, it is because God intends for you to be single today. Just let that sink in for a moment. God intends for you to be single today, so that you can live it for Him, seek Him with all you have, and use whatever time and resources you have to His glory. Trust the perfect intention of God, who is working all things for your good (Romans 8:28), and train your heart to free itself from clinging onto anything that is not Him (Proverbs 4:23).
Be very conscious of how much of the world’s version of “Love” we are buying into as well. This world puts romantic love on an impossibly high pedestal and tells us that we will only be “complete” when we find that magical love. Not only is this untrue, it also distracts us from all the other kinds of love that God may be calling us to invest in: the love of God, chiefly, and also, the love of His kingdom, His people and His mission… loves that are best pursued without distraction (1 Cor 7:32).
So embrace the gift that singleness is, and live it for the glory of God. One day when the season of singleness comes to a close for you (if it does), leave it with the supreme satisfaction that it was richly spent for the glory of God, and not wasted in a cesspool of useless pining.
7. Not commit to a spiritual community
There is no such thing as a lone christian – that is an oxymoron, and finds no support from the bible. You need people, just as much as others will need you, if you want to seriously walk the christian journey.
“let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25).
Join a Christian fellowship and stick to it. Learn what it means to commit to a Christian community, when you are at this relatively more “available” season of your life. It will only get harder, not easier, to do so as you move on in life. Of course, in your Christian community, if you can, you should offer to serve others, participate actively and give generously. But for whatever reason if you can’t do any of this – just show up. And show up again. And show up again. Rinse and repeat.
You’ll be surprised by how much God can and will change and mature you simply through the regular reading of His word and fellowship with His people week after week. Not to mention, some of your best and deepest connections with others await you here. Who knows, you may even meet your future spouse here?[3],[4]
Final words
There you have it. 7 ways to waste your university life (or not).
Whatever happens in the course of those few years of your university life, I hope you will be able to look back at that season and say you “gained Christ” (Philippians 3:8), got to “know him better” (Ephesians 1:17), and spared no effort in pursuing “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (2 Tim 6:11). If you can, then you would have lived very, very, very richly for those few years – and to answer the question I started with, you will know exactly what reason you went to university for.
Written by Li-en
Li-en is a happy follower of Jesus, wife to Thung Han and mother to two young children. She used to work in courtrooms, but now works in classrooms. You can say she enjoys being where the drama is.
Photo Credit: Social Media Team E
[1] but not excessively hard to the detriment of other more important things, as listed below. Studies can be, and often is, a huge idol for many Singaporean students.
[2] I’m not advocating you do that in your university if it’s not in your comfort zone to do so. Start with the friends God has given you. They may not look like it, but often they are waiting to be engaged about the deep things of life. Go on, ask God for wisdom, and start that conversation.
[3] cough. Luke. cough. and. cough. Grace.
[4] but no guarantees, guys. It didn’t happen for me here.