College is a place where we find ourselves, a place where we learn from our own mistakes. We have always hated when our parents said, “learn from my mistakes” because if we are being honest, a small part of us wants to make them ourselves. It is our human nature to be stubborn.

Some of our mistakes are small and teach us much needed common sense. Like the time I forgot where I parked my car in the parking deck and proceeded to look for it for two hours. I was walking up and down six floors for two hours carrying a load of laundry around and sweating every ounce of anything that was in my body out. It was terrible, and I was late for work, but I laugh about it now because it’s a classic freshman story. But it gets even better because I also fell up the stairs in the Commons at Kennesaw and separated my shoulder in front of hundreds of other students. Yeah, if that isn't the epitome of a classic freshman, I don't know what is.

These mistakes were ones that I could easily move on from. Well, if you can call 10 weeks of physical therapy easy...but they were helpful life lessons.

On a more serious note, not all mistakes are as easy to get over. As a Christian, big mistakes are even harder to deal with. Guilt is a real and scary feeling. Mistakes that we know shouldn't be made can tear every inch of our soul apart slowly.

I'm sure for many of us the first thing we hear when we think of college is partying, meaningless hookups and a multitude of other mistakes. A lot of college students and much of society in general think this is the norm. Which in all seriousness, it has become normal. Partying, drinking and sexuality are things that our society claims do not affect us at all. It means nothing. It does not affect our spirituality because everyone does it.

I am including myself in all of this. I am a sinner by nature, and I struggle to obey the Lord every day. I know what it feels like to get tired of always being ‘good.' I got tired of not knowing what it felt like to be reckless. I got tired of feeling like I wasn’t beautiful because I didn't throw myself at guys. This is such a dangerous place to be, so let me tell you a few things about making mistakes.

These things will hurt you in the end.

Getting drunk every night and throwing yourself at guys will hurt. At first it seems fun and harmless. It can’t be that bad, right? But sin is bad. It begins to chip away at your soul slowly because the reason you are doing this is not really just for the fun. It’s because you feel like you need to get satisfaction somewhere else when you should be looking to the Lord for it. It takes small parts piece by piece, until you are left with little to nothing. Sin drains everything until you feel empty inside; wondering how it got to such a bad point. And then you start to think of all the things that people told you not do, but you did anyway and the guilt starts to build. You see, God created things for a purpose and when we change the purpose behind those things, we start to get hurt. For example, intimacy was designed for a purpose and when we treat it like its nothing our souls react. We are left with guilt, shame and loneliness. Even if we try to ignore it, it’s still there.

You are not the choices you have made.

I know how easy it is to rip yourself apart. I know that when you make a mistake it is harder to forgive yourself than it is to let the Lord forgive you. I know that He shows me grace and mercy, but I struggle to show it to myself. It is easy to let your sin define you; to let it become you. It is easy to feel like you can never go back. I know how hard it can be to even look at your bible or think about Jesus because the guilt you feel overtakes every ounce of your mind. I know.

But I also know that remaining in your sin and guilt can turn into a vicious cycle of even more sin and guilt. It can become a lifestyle. As hard as it is, you need to realize that the Lord has done ENOUGH to stomp on every inch of your sin and take all of your guilt away. Everything that needs to be done, HAS ALREADY BEEN DONE FOR YOU. Jesus died on a cross for the very pit that is sitting in your stomach. He died to destroy our short comings. He died to make us whole again. He wants you to know that you are loved and cared for just as much now, as you were before you made a mistake.

Jesus is not an excuse for bad behavior.

Although the Lord forgives us for our sin, he is not an excuse to live in our sin. Many Christians these days use the Lord as some sort of safe guard to make mistakes. I am in no way shape or form telling you to make mistakes because in the end God will forgive you. Forgiveness is a beautiful gift that we do not deserve. To take that beautiful and wonderful gift for granted is not okay. In Romans 6, Paul addresses this topic. Paul starts by asking if it is acceptable to live in sin, as Christians who are given grace by God. Paul then reasons that we cannot continue to live in sin because we have died with Christ to sin and have been raised with him to live new lives. In Romans 6, Paul says, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” If we have truly accepted the Lord, we will not use his forgiveness as a way to get away with what will satisfy us temporarily.

The reality is we will continue to sin because we are human.

We cannot stop sinning. It’s impossible on this earth because Satan will fight to get a hold of our hearts each day. However, we can choose to NOT LIVE in our sin. In Romans 6, Paul also points out that whoever we obey, we are slaves to. Instead of being a slave to our sin, we can choose to live with an attitude of obedience to the Lord. Knowing that we will make mistakes, we will try our best to live a life as close to Jesus as possible. We are never going to be able to not sin, but we can go to the Lord humbly and honestly.

It is not easy to live in the light.

It is not easy to choose to not get wasted. It is not easy to choose not to gossip or lie. It is not easy to choose not to cheat on that online test. It is not easy to choose not to sin. If it was easy, we wouldn't need Jesus. The reason we choose to live life set apart from those around us is because we know that our reward in heaven will be so much greater than any temporary satisfaction here on earth.

When we think about sinning we need to take a moment and compare. Will this thing make me happier than Jesus can? Will this sin make me feel as satisfied and joyful as I will when I spend eternity with the most loving father in existence? The answer is always no.

This is what we have to hold on to. We have to hold onto the hope that there is a happiness that exists; one that our minds can’t even comprehend or imagine. A happiness that lives in our hearts because of a savior who died for us.

He loves you. He really loves you. He wants to give you joy and happiness, but first you have to give yourself to Him.