Being a Christian student on the campus – balancing our studies and our Christian life

How can we live a proper Christian life and church life while at the same time taking the best care of our studies? There’s no set of rules or “DO’S and DONT’S” – it is a life together with the Lord. But there can be some points, some practical examples, some experiences, which may help us in our pursuit of the Lord and going on with Him AND in our student life.

Below is such an answer given by a sister Christian student on the campus in Louisiana, USA. You can follow this series of articles via, Being a Christian Student on the Campus.

Balancing loving the Lord and the church life and taking care of my studies

A brother shared once at the college conference that he considered the church life to be like another class. And he even measured his “performance” in his “church life class”. He considered making it to the meetings and participating an “A”, and prized this above any grade in his actual college classes.

Practically, we have to balance these two matters and choose, prayerfully, what we can schedule in our week; also, we need to be flexible after we set up a schedule! My typical approach to planning a semester:

1. A list of classes I need to take plus extras I would like to fit in, organized by time and eliminating sections that interfere with the campus meeting and the prayer meeting. (Sometimes that’s not possible, but I like to make these meetings my priority)
2. At the beginning of the semester, I speak with some sisters to work out an appointment during the week to have some quality time with them, getting into some ministry books. (I’m trying to finish as many of the recommended reading as possible before the full-time training)
3. There are some other sisters that I’d really like to meet with regularly, but they are unable to meet on campus. I set up these times usually a few weeks after the semester has started and we all have a chance to settle in and see what free time we have left.
4. Then I fill in all my other extra-curricular things like exercise and study time.

Over the years, I’ve realized that if I just give the Lord the time and go to some meetings in a consistent way, He honors this and takes care of me. In reality, our education is for the Lord – and our whole life is for the Lord – and He knows we need to take care of these practical things.

Yes, the Lord wants us to take care of them in a proper way, but our life with Him is more important than any outward schooling, habit, practice, station etc. These verses really touched and encouraged me:

2 Cor 4:17-18, For our momentary lightness of affliction works out for us, more and more surpassingly, an eternal weight of glory, Because we do not regard the things which are seen but the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Every time that the Lord has gotten me to the college conference despite a heavy course-load, it has worked out wonderfully. I have no remembrance of schoolwork, but just a sweet memory of enjoying the Lord with other college students. [picture credit: LSU Baton Rouge]