This post on The Importance of Finding Christian Community in College was written by Jeffrey Chen. Jeffrey has a passion for sharing God’s love with those around him.
Finding a Christian community in college isn’t hard. Getting involved with one you feel comfortable in is. Especially when you’re already busy with school, clubs, and having a social life. I had intended on getting involved in some sort of Christian community at the start of college. I thought about going to church or joining a faith-based organization. After all, I had grown up going to church every Sunday, and was involved in my youth group. I considered my faith to be a major part of my identity.
However, things didn’t go as planned. I became caught up in my schoolwork, my involvement in a business fraternity, and hanging out with my new friends. I occasionally attended church, but it was a lot harder without my mom yelling at me to get up. It also didn’t help that I knew nobody at the church I attended. But hey, I was enjoying the college life, so I saw no reason to change my habits.
Losing Faith
This all changed my sophomore year. My faith took a toll by not having a Christian community I was really involved. For the first time in my life, I started having very real doubts about my beliefs and the existence of God. And while I think it was important for to me to really challenge what had been instilled in me from an early age, losing faith in God really hurt me mentally.
I lost a sense of purpose and meaning in life as the foundation of my values and beliefs began to crumble. I thought “What is the point of life if we are all just atoms floating around in space?” My motivation to do well in school, to find an internship, and to even invest in my relationships died quickly. I slept in often, cared about very little, and become quite lonely. This was obviously not healthy for me. Despite my continued struggles with my faith, I knew something needed to change.
Regaining Faith Through Christian Community
So, I reached out to my friend, A.J., because I knew he was involved with a Christian organization on campus called Young Life. And let me tell you, that was by far the best decision I made in my four years of college. While it took some time to regain and honestly restart my faith, the Young Life community supported me as I rediscovered who God is. I formed relationships for a lifetime in Young Life, and worked through my doubts through my involvement with a small group of some of the best dudes I’ve ever met, which was a lot better than trying to do it on my own.
Whether you’re a college student or not, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of finding a Christian community to support you in your faith journey if that is something that is important to you. You need people who are going to encourage you, support you, but also challenge and push you in your faith. That is what I found in Young Life and I hope you all can find that too if you have not already!
If you enjoy this post, The Importance of Finding Christian Community in College, you might also enjoy reading:
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