A couple weeks ago, I was in the midst of a fascinating Bible study about who Satan is, what he can and can’t do, and what we should do in lieu of the truths. As we were studying passages like Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, something hit me: Satan fell from heaven because he was full of himself. What caused his great pride? His beauty.

As I was pondering this, a new understanding came to me, just like Satan fell because he so valued appearances, likewise today he is hoping you and I will make the same mistake. Our enemy is hoping that you and I will place such a great value on how things appear and how we are perceived that we will entirely miss the point of life: to love and be loved by our gracious God.

Why are you in college? Maybe you came to get a better job, a higher salary, a nicer home, a faster car. Now that you are here, however, maybe your outlook has changed. Yeah, it would be great to get a nice paying future and that VW Jetta, but even more so, I imagine you want to have a future that makes a difference. Is this true? Then read on.

If you desire a life worth living, do this: forget appearances and seek truth. King Solomon, a man who was a multi-millionaire, had this to say about having it all: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity” (i.e. futility, or a “waste of time”) (Ecclesiastes 5:10).

As fun as it might be zipping all over town in your Jetta, in the end you will feel hollow and incomplete. However, I have some good news. Psalm 139 says that God handwove us together in our mother’s wombs (139:13) and placed within each of us a calling. God has given each of us unique gifts and talents to touch others’ lives. How do we find these? How can we begin using them?

By being broken. We must be broken of our past values and ways of doing things. Why? Because God is near to those who are broken (Ps. 34:18). If we will allow Jesus to break us, then our faithful God can take the pieces and craft us into something beautiful. A vessel defined by Him. Trust Him.

Jason Harshbarger College Pastor of ZAO College Ministries pastorjason@brookings.net

An interesting thing happened halfway through my first semester in college: my roommate became nocturnal. As I was getting up to go to class in the morning, he was going to bed. As I settled in for an evening of homework, he was just waking up. Weird, I thought.

The next year, after I had transferred to a different university, an interesting change began to occur in my new roommate: he became nocturnal. Same routine as before, only different person and different location.

Did I bring this out in people? Do they try to avoid me this desperately? Well, as I have gotten to know many college students, I have regained my lost self-esteem through finding that many college students struggle with this: staying up until ridiculous hours at night, sleeping through classes and arising just in time for supper. Does this describe you?

If so, here are a few suggestions to avoid my roommates’ fate (both of my roommates later dropped out of school).

First, be disciplined with your time. It wasn’t too long ago when you were in high school and your day was planned out: school, then practice, then dinner, then homework and then bed. Now, however, you may have a day that is entirely up to you to plan, but you usually find yourself doing little. Discipline yourself to get up at a semi-regular time, force yourself to go to class, even get a job or play intramural sports, so that your life is not comprised by “free time.”

Second, find someone you can respect and confide in to talk with. Many college students are freaked out at trying to figure out what to do for the rest of their life, so what do they do? NOTHING. If this happens, you will withdraw, get depressed and become nocturnal. Find someone you respect, be real with them and listen to their advice.

Finally, I would encourage you to seek God’s will for your life. God says in Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV), “For I know the plans I have for you ? plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Let Jesus reveal His will for your life through His words to you, the Bible. Read Psalm 37:4 and Philippians 4:4-8.

When we hear the word tolerance, what sort of a thought does it bring to mind? When someone tells you that you need to tolerate something, does it usually evoke a positive or negative thought? Probably the latter. Uh-oh, I am going to have to go along with something that might be weird! Oh man, I hope this is something I can halfway stomach.

It’s interesting to note that just the mention of the word tolerance usually makes one feel like they are on something less than comfortable ground. However, we live in a world that seems to dictate to us that we need to be just that- tolerant of others’ differences around us. We need to be tolerant to their tastes, their opinions, the choices they make, and probably above all, their beliefs (or lack thereof).

Who came up with this rule? Or did it just spring forth from a culture that so values and craves a multiplicity of choices and options? At first glance, tolerance could be a positive thing. It could allow and promote diversity among us (yes, this is very good). However, upon closer inspection, isn’t tolerance really just springing forth from our selfishness? People aren’t like me, so I need to put up with them. Ouch, that seems to smack of my large ego.

What is the answer, then, to how to deal with our differences? This actually is easy: LOVE. For what tolerance seems to speak to others (i.e. I will put up with what you think), love seems to show to others (i.e. I will move past your views and choose to care about you as a person).

Jesus once made a radical statement. Jesus once said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Now we are on to something: laying down our life, our pride, our will and our agendas so that we can put others ahead of ourselves. This seems like it would be a better starting spot to understand one another’s differences. Maybe then, our world might be a little better place to be in.

So instead of tolerating others, try loving them. It just might be what your world is missing.

Pastor Jason Harshbarger leads ZAO College Ministries. You can email him at pastorjason@brookings.net.