Having a personal relationship with God, especially now being at university, could never be more important to me. The university journey of course prompts many academic and personal challenges such as exam stress, anxiety, and even depression. For me, disciplining myself to keep the faith helps me to steer clear from a such hardships.
Being a Christian hugely impacts many of my life decisions. I feel like one huge topic of debate is the issue of religion and clubbing. I’m no regular party-goer but no one should judge anyone for wanting to go out and enjoy themselves. At the end of the day we are all social beings; we strive to develop ourselves socially in any way we can and we are blessed with freewill and choice.
University is a very unique experience: we are all moving away from parents for the first time and faced with a need to be independent. For me, it is important to explore this independence while maintaining my religious beliefs and practices. Having this first and full taste of freedom and independence can easily cause a person to test their faith and need to re-assess or re-establish their relationship with God.
Therefore, the following things have been really important in helping me to build and maintain my personal relationship with God throughout University:
Finding a place of worship - it was important for to be find somewhere I could feel connected for the sake of my spiritual journey.
Using online resources - downloading the Holy Book app from the app store & finding thousands of sermons on YouTube. I personally find that Christian meditation videos are useful as a means to reflect on myself and to reduce apprehension.
Praying - the power of prayer for me is enormous and can never be underestimated. It provides a sense of calm and closure at times of doubt and anxiety and I find it to be very useful during exam season or when I am facing upcoming coursework deadlines.
Joining a society - religious societies such as MDX Christian Union provide you with a network of people with the same faith as you. As an added bonus, your involvement with a society looks great on your CV!
Check out all the religious societies and liberation groups here at MDX.
Whoever you are, and whatever your beliefs, stay blessed!
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