Advice to Those Who Come After Me
When I was a senior in college, I was forced to think about what I was leaving behind for those who came after me.
"What’s my legacy?” “What will I be known for?” “Have I made a difference for Christ in the lives of those around me?”
At my campus ministry, we had a night at the end of the school year where we would recognize the graduating seniors. They all come to the front of the room, in front of a few hundred people, and gave their best piece of advice. By the time I was a senior, I had sat through three senior nights. Many of the seniors I’d seen come through our ministry said something about making friends for life within our ministry, making non-Christian friends outside of our ministry to witness to them, taking advantage of the Christian mentors available to us, getting involved on campus, and more. Those are great pieces of advice, but once you’ve heard the same advice three years over, it gets a tad boring and predictable.
I started thinking about what my piece of advice will be when it would be my turn to stand in front of my peers as a graduating senior. If I could only give one piece of advice, what would it be? If that one piece of advice was the only legacy I left behind, what would I say?
I would say that everyone needs to take ownership of their faith.
Many people I come in contact with let their mentors (whether those mentors were parents, other family members, youth pastors, friends, etc…) drag them to church when they were younger, even after they accepted Christ as the Savior of their lives. If that was the case for you, then college is the perfect time to figure out how to push yourself to new places in your walk with Christ on your own.
Learn how to love attending church; don’t make someone else drag you there or make you feel bad for missing a Sunday. Go of your own free will, and take ownership of it by learning something new and getting involved.
Learn how to have and keep a daily quiet time with God. Don’t rely on anyone to tell you what the Bible says and give you your weekly dose of Jesus. You should want to learn more about our God and about how He has worked in people’s lives throughout the history of the world. Don’t make excuses why you don’t have time to read your Bible; you’ll make time if you want to progress in your walk with God. Take ownership of it, and make it your responsibility.
If and how you walk with Christ is your choice. Don’t say that its anyone else’s fault, duty, or responsibility. Get out of your comfort zone, because that’s where God shows Himself in your life, and take ownership of each opportunity He gives you to do something great for His glory and Kingdom.
Don’t just worship and talk about a far-away God; make Him your personal Savior, who you spend time with and talk to every single day. Build your entire adult life on God to ensure, when times get tough or you’re thrown a curve ball in life, your house is built on the Rock instead of shifting sand.
That is the best thing I can hope to leave behind me. I want everyone to grow in their faith as much as possible during college while they still have people surrounding them to help (If you don't have those people, go to your church or campus ministry and find them! They want to be your cheerleaders, I promise!). I want this to be my legacy, and I pray Matthew 7:24-27 over you:
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the wins blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
What advice would you give to the college-aged girls coming up behind you?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lacey Rae recently moved to Mt. Zion, Georgia after graduating from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master's degree in Biblical Counseling. Her passion is biblically counseling young women to help them grow closer to Christ. She loves attempting to bake, bingeing showing on Netflix and Hulu, and supporting her six nieces and nephews as often as possible.