How did I survive being a Christian in college? Well, I can’t say it was easy, but it was due to the prayers and love from many other Christians, especially in Christians on Campus, who cared for me while I was a college student. Without this awesome group of Christians, I wouldn’t have had the support to dive into the Word and get to know the Lord Jesus.
When I was in high school, I attended many church meetings, and I had this concept that being a Christian wasn’t any fun. Deep down, I knew in my heart that I loved the Lord Jesus but I lived a double life where weekends were reserved for church activities and weekdays for school and other friends.
In the fall of 2007, I started studying electrical engineering at UT Austin. At the recommendation of a youth group mentor from my high school days, I joined a club called Christians on Campus. I was a bit hesitant to join because I thought Christians would be boring people, but it turned out they were just regular people like me with many different interests like books, sports, technology, etc. As I started attending some Bible studies on campus, I found that this particular group of Christians seriously knew the Word and had a genuine love for the Lord. They did not compartmentalize their life into church on Sunday and work on the weekdays; they were living a life of daily enjoyment of our Lord Jesus. This was so normal to them and I knew that if I wanted to be a genuine Christian, this was the group to be with.
2 Tim 2:22 – But flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Christians of all ages, especially young college-aged Christians, desperately need to pursue the Lord with companions. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. If I want to be a great basketball player, I can’t do it alone; I need to be with people who play basketball well. Following the Lord is hard to do alone because there are many distractions in our day-to-day lives that can take our attention away from the Lord. Thankfully, I made tons of friends through Christians on Campus and they would send me text messages of encouraging Bible verses every morning. I still get encouraging texts today from the friends I made in college. What a blessing.