By Dustin Sable
College is truly one of the most life-changing, fun, and beneficial experiences that a person can choose to pursue. But even though college is all of those fantastic things, it can also be very challenging, and the thought of those challenges can often cause high school students to worry about their future. This worry is normal to feel—but NEVER FEAR! Your friends at the Called Collective have created a series of growth plans to help you navigate common challenges that students face so you can CRUSH FRESHMAN YEAR.
This plan follows three basic steps. First, a foundation of right belief where the Christian is equipped with Right Beliefs about Christian practice, second, a Cooperate Foundation where the Christian receives guidance and support to practice the Habits of Grace, and third a framework for the Personal Expression of foundational Habits of Grace.
STEP ONE: RIGHT BELIEF
Salvation. The core of Christian Spiritual Formation is the person of Christ and the life of wholeness that he offers to his people. However, Christians often tend to undersell what Christ did on the cross, settling only for forgiveness of sins. Yes, forgiveness is important, but Christ came not only to forgive but also to bring us into relationship with God, empower us for holy living, and equip us to build his Church. This is salvation, that we should know God and be transformed into the image of His Son; here and now!
Unconditional Love. Christian practice without the protection of a proper view of God's love is one of the most dangerous things for a Christian. Without the foundation of God's
unconditional love and forgiveness toward those in Christ, Christian practice can quickly become a self-centered attempt to earn love and forgiveness. Christian practices must come out of an affirmation of God’s love!
Habits of Grace. Christian Practices are invitations to participate in a life centered around God’s vision for humanity. While they may be challenging at times, they are not obligations but rather opportunities to be changed and formed by God in tangible ways. One popular term for Christian practices is Habits of Grace. This term beautifully captures God's vision for human transformation because these practices must be expressed repeatedly over time in concrete ways and because these practices communicate God's grace to us.
STEP TWO: CORPORATE FOUNDATION
Get Connected to a Church. The local church is the concrete expression of God’s kingdom on Earth and the center of His ongoing activity. Therefore, it is critical that every Christian find in a local congregation that includes people diverse to them. This is important because the Church is not only where God dispenses His grace to His people, but also it is where Christians learn how to participate in the ethnically, culturally, politically, age diverse, male and female community of God in a way that reflects Christian love.
Find a Mentor. The Christian life is a journey that takes the believer down many paths that will be unfamiliar to them. This is why it is essential that every believer maintains relationships with mature Christians who have faithfully walked with God. This relationship serves as a guide to the believer as they attempt to navigate the Christian walk. It is recommended that this believer is a part of the same congregation.
Find Accountability. Just as it is unwise to attempt to navigate the Christian life on one's own, it is also unwise to walk through daily life alone. As Christians, we must learn to lean on those who share our faith to fight through the temptations of everyday life. These individuals should be close, trusted friends with which you can share the most intimate and vulnerable aspects of your life for mutual upbuilding in Christ. It is not good for man to be alone.
STEP THREE: PERSONAL EXPRESSION
Solitude. Since the very beginning of Christianity, one of the most concrete expressions of Christian practice was solitude. Simply put, solitude is separating oneself from the world to be present to God. In solitude, we are left without the distractions, work, and people we so often turn to to meet our deepest needs for affirmation and love. This space leaves us open to encounter God as we truly are, his beloved children. While we can find God’s grace in solitude, it can often be painful as it forces us to separate from our comfortability. However, solitude is essential as it is a place of conversion where we learn to rely on the Lord for our deepest needs.
Scripture Engagement. Many Christians revere Scripture as the word of God and the document on which Christian morality and theology are based. However, it is also so much more than that! Like other Habits of Grace, Scripture is given to the people of God to help form them into the Image of Christ. Careful, meditative reading of Scripture is one of the most transformational Christian practices as it renews our minds and transforms us to think the thoughts of God and desire the desires of God. This reading is often more beneficial when a significant amount of time is spent in one passage rather than taking in a massive amount of Scripture at a shallow level.
Prayer. Prayer is to the Christian life what breathing is to the human body. At its core, prayer is building a relationship with God and sharing our life with Him. This is and has been expressed in hundreds of different ways throughout Church History. Still, every expression shares at its core, a shared life between the Christian and God. In prayer, we offer God ourself as we genuinely are emotions, desires, thoughts, and dreams, and we patiently listen to his response. Prayer ought to be a constant reality in the life of a Christian, with the believer continually looking to God for guidance and strength throughout the day.
Sabbath. The life of a college student is often chaotic at worst and hurried at best. However, God has given his wisdom and grace to help redeem our busy lives. What I am talking about is Sabbath. At its core, Sabbath is setting one day a week aside as an offering to God, an acknowledgment of our human limitations, and an opportunity to rest. This practice helps the Christian learn how to be and enjoy God’s good creation.
