Stress and College Students - the need for love

Someone asked recently, "Why are college students under so much stress?

Google "stress" and "college students" and a host of recent studies can be accessed.  They provide helpful information about the stress producers in college students' lives.

But it's not rocket-science.  One can readily and accurately think about the stress-producers that crowd the heart of a young adult student, including...

• spending tens of thousands of borrowed dollars on an education that oftimes lacks specific direction
• a nagging lack of clarity about "who I am" and "what should I be doing"
• coming from homes which are increasingly void of solid spiritual grounding and interpersonal, relational health
• an increasing number who near graduation with a degree representing a focus of study that leaves them yet unprepared for the real world in which they are about to step
• a public university culture that largely tells them that apart from the math and sciences, "there is no truth" and "figure it out for yourself"
• relationship trial-and-error episodes with the opposite gender, episodes which often rush into physical intimacy without relational intimacy or genuine, lasting commitment.  The wreckage of these relationships is tragic
• blurred lines which encourage sexual experimentation, resulting in further disorientation
• operating in a culture that is hell-bent on erasing moral standards and boundaries, and replacing them with virtually nothing

Personally, I consistently hear younger people saying, "I could really use a mentor...someone older...someone grounded in God and who has a track-record of wisdom and morals."

THE CRY OF YOUNG PEOPLE

GenerationNext often wants to present itself as confident and ready to take on the future.  Idealism still arises.  "My generation will get it right."

One can hope for this, but without a clear, moral roadmap which is anchored in revealed truth--one which provides true wisdom on accurate self-assessment, a prayerful search for the calling of God upon the life, and submission to Christ and His direction for one's life--more and more will continue to "swing the bat" and strike out.  Often as kids head out of the home, they see their parents separating (and often before), finally giving up on their own vain and immature lunges to make life's core relationship (i.e., marriage) work.   Life's anchors too often give way right at the time when GenerationNext needs them most.

A HEALTHY CHURCH CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

This question arose as our congregation (at Easter) heard again from several college students being baptized.  Testimonies again revealed the personal disorientation several of the students felt from homes that had fallen apart, and personal love relationships that turned out not to be so full of the real thing.  Such disorientations left the heart craving for someone who could make sense out of the mush.

Healthy church families who follow Christ, with constituents who truly love others, can make a huge difference in the lives of stressed out college students.  The anchors can be reset, and the boundary lines rightly redrawn to guide the heart and years of future life.

Will our churches step up to the plate?  More and more I hear young people say, "You're down the road a bit.  Can we meet?  I've got some questions..."   Great loving takes time for important, young lives.

In the area of understanding great loving, may I commend to you Paul Miller, A Loving Life.