Finding Your Identity

Ever since I started college, I constantly hear the phrase "college is a time to experiment and try new things". Though it may sound very true, I find that most students use this as an excuse to do any stupid thing their mind can think of. They use this excuse as if what we do in college won't affect our life long term, as if college somehow makes you immune to all consequences of your decisions. I think this is the very opposite of true. College is the time to get it right! College is the time to define who you'll be for the rest of your life, because it's usually the turning point of our lives. We should be discovering, not experimenting.

Imagine your entire life is a room. And sin makes it dark in the room. You need to find out who you are, and if you could just understand what that room looks like, you would know! Guess where you can find the light switch? That's right, Jesus Christ, the ONLY way. (John 8:12)

You see, experimenting everything this world can offer you is like trying to learn what the dark room is like by scrambling in the dark, stumbling and searching for ANY clue. And lets face it, no one has their life in order without Jesus, so that room would be a MESS! But discovery is turning on that light switch and SEEING what it looks like. Not only is it more efficient, it's a lot less frustrating!

Trying to find out who you are without Jesus is like trying to find out what a room looks like when the lights are off. 

Now, chances are that when you do turn the lights on, you will see one messy room. That's what sin does. It makes a mess of everything. And then, in your silly efforts to figure out what the room looks like in the dark, you probably messed it up even more (that's what experimenting does).

(Kind of like this mess. Except I'm thinking probably a lot more disgusting.)

BUT GOOD NEWS! The light switch is a package deal, and you get someone WHO KNOWS WHAT THE ROOM IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE BECAUSE HE CREATED IT!
And He won't leave you to clean your room alone. He will help you through it. Don't be fooled, it's still hard work. You have to allow Him to open up moldy drawers and clean them up! And that's hard because you're exposing yourself. You have to face everything that caused the room to become a mess in the first place.

It's a process, but boy is it worth it! See, the fun part is that you get to hang out with the Holy Spirit as you clean! It's difficult work, but it's not boring because you'll be cleaning with the your best friend, the best person in the world!

(You'll be looking victorious like this!) 

So if you're in college and you want to experiment, EXPERIMENT THROWING YOURSELF IN JESUS' ARMS! It's the best experiment you'll ever make, and I assure you it'll give you the best results!