My spiritual journey:
>I think spirituality is a big part of who we are. For me, my relationship with God determines all other areas of my life. It gives me direction in those areas. Always keeping in mind there's a bigger goal than getting the grades -- there's something far greater than just getting my education alone.
University is a place to learn, to get an education -- and education isn't merely head knowledge about these subjects but it's really about learning about life.
If there is a God it's important to find out who he is and how we relate to him, and how he relates to us. It's extremely important to consider a relationship with him. It's like building a life... in building a building, you need to have a foundation. If as students we are really about learning, it's important to discover the truth.
>For me, my discovery of truth began when at a young age I was fearful of what would happen to me when I died.
I thought that God existed and thought that he knew about everything that I had done.
As a kid, I knew I had done many things that were very bad. I was very conscious of those things. And I knew that no matter how much good I did, it couldn't cover or make up for all the bad. I had heard that Jesus came to earth to live the perfect life I couldn't and died in my place, taking my wrongs on himself. And then he came back to life.
It was like a gift that God had offered us--the opportunity to be forgiven of all the evil things I had done even as a kid. Jesus' death dealt with all I had done in life so that these things would not keep me from being separated from God any longer and ultimately when I died.
When I asked Jesus to forgive me and to come into my life to cleanse me from all my wrong doings and to take the lead in my life I experienced a sense of peace that I would not be separated from God when I died. I also sensed this strange desire to love the sister I fought with the most.
Knowing God personally has changed the way I am able to relate to people in terms of choosing to forgive because God's forgiven me, and being able to love others because God first loved me. It would be so much easier for me to hold grudges or not love people but I often find that it is God who enables me to love and forgive.
I also now find my significance and worth in Him, even when I fail myself or other's expectations. Initially feeling like I failed in university, it was my faith and hope in God that kept me going, trusting that God has a plan for my life.
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