Faith in the College Years

Resolve

Daniel resolved that he would not...

Daniel made a decision in a secular world he would not compromise. That he would stay true to his God. How do we do this? How did Daniel do this?

One key is being proactive not reactive. I truly believe we often get this wrong, and that is what often messes us up in the college years. We often don’t prepare for serious challenges to our faith, instead we react when it is attacked. We spend our teen years living on our parents faith. And when we are reactive we are already in a compromised position. We are in spiritual warfare. In warfare you don’t just wander around the battlefield and wait util you are attacked to respond. You prepare. You get your weapons ready, you study your enemy and strategically approach things (Matthew 10:16). I am telling you right now you are in a season of life where you are going to be exposed to so many worldviews. You are where your worldview will be challenged. Welcome the challenge. Let the challenge sharpen you.

Be proactive in:

Knowing why you believe what you believe in the Bible

Asking questions

researching the most common challenges to the faith

how to guard yourself against sin:

When dating have very transparent conversations about your limits

Set things in place to guard yourself against porn

Accountability partners

Avoiding certain situations

Speaking out against sin

Would Not Defile

…defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank.

Daniel and his three buddies were exposed to an educated world that opposed theirs. They were faced with cultural choices. If they followed the choices they would find themselves defiled before a holy God. Daniel and his buddies were to follow the OT laws and to eat of the kings food would not have been kosher.

It seems like such a small point. An easy thing to let slide just to fit in, just to avoid conflict, just to avoid a stare. One it would have been sin, no matter how small a sin is, it is still a sin. Compromise is all around a slippery slope. Things would have unraveled. I am going to tell you three areas you are going to be pushed to compromise. Sexuality, Genesis (science), and truth (objective verses subjective truth). Do not compromise in these areas. You compromise in these areas and you will find yourself defiled. You will find your faith wavering. Spiritual warfare is not a war where compromises and treaties can be made.

Defile gives the devil a foothold, also it gives stumbling blocks to others.

What to do if you have defiled yourself?

Be honest

Apologize

Set safeguards in place

Learn

None was found like

If you choose to live with resolve and choose not to defile no one will be found like you and your fellow believers. In other words you are to be holy (set apart). Your life is not suppose to look the same as everyone else’s. I I hung out up here this week your character should stand out from the nonbelievers around you. God is the creator of all things good. Truth is good. As our understanding of God grows the crisper our vision of the truth will be. We will be able to apply truth better because we understand the God of truth better. This is going to make you stand out wherever God has called you. If God has called you to work with computers, welding, nursing, etc. Your faith is going to make you work in those areas unlike others.

I think there are several ways Christians should stand out is:

honesty/truthfulness. Trust is something lacking in our world.

Consistency should be a way we should stand a part. we are always the same no matter who is around. We always give things our best.

Agape love. We treat all people with love no matter what they have done.

Closing Thought

Now if we live with resolve and do not defile ourselves are not like others, does this mean our life is going to be smooth? No, it means we will have a unique platform to impact the world in ways we cannot imagine. Daniels three friends lived this way and they literally had to walk through the fire. Daniel lived this way and had a sleep over with lions. But because they were proactive in their faith and stood against what would defile them they had a testimony unlike any other.

How will you spend your college years? Will they have an impact on eternity? Or will you look back on regrets?