Things Every Young Adult Needs to Hear

Our friends Louie and Shelley Giglio run Passion, a ministry they have used to minister to college students since 1997. Their work has caused many people to trust Jesus for the first time and walk away from sin patterns. It has been a catalyst for many people to go into ministry.

When Louie and Shelley invited me to speak at Passion this year, they asked me to write a letter to my college self. There are so many things I would say to college Jennie if I could speak to her. And since God has yet to grant us the ability to turn back time, I will share this message to 18-year-old Jennie with you.

Hopefully, this will encourage you or the younger people in your life to live a life of steadfast love, service, and obedience:

Trust God's plan for your life.

I was a textbook people pleaser at 18. I spun my mind trying to make decisions based on other people’s opinions of me. If you see yourself in this piece of young Jennie, stop caring so much about what everybody else thinks.

Rest in who God has made you to be. Start to listen to His Spirit and what He wants to say and do through you.

Let go of control.

When I was in college, I struggled with an eating disorder. I felt so much pressure, and food felt like something I could control. So, stop trying to control everything. Stop trying to be perfect because there is no perfect except for Jesus.

There is no line you'll finally cross to reach perfection or a still and peaceful heart. This is a relentless pursuit. So, stop chasing the world and everything in it because it's not going to satisfy you.

Let your struggles spur your spiritual growth.

Stop wondering if God will ever use you; He will. He probably is already, and you just haven’t seen it yet. But you might go through several struggles along the way. For me, it was anxiety, depression, a miscarriage, a difficult marriage, healing from an eating disorder, and fear of failure with my kids.

You'll have to go through a long season of invisibility. While you're invisible, do the work of the Kingdom even when nobody sees or celebrates it. Love the people God puts in your path in such a way that they want your God. Don't be afraid of the gifts God has given you. Use them wherever you can.

You might be using those gifts in your dorm room with three friends or in your living room with barely 10 people. Don’t ever wonder if that matters because it does.

Prioritize relationship with God over romance.

Stop worrying so much about boys. Stop longing for a relationship apart from God because even when you get that relationship, you will always feel empty without Him. So, start to spend time with Him and never stop.

Fight for that passion and private relationship with God more than you fight for any other thing on earth.

That’s what you’ll take into every chapter of your life. Your relationship with God is what you will take into eternity.

Find your people.

Stop living so independently. You need people, and it's okay that you do. But you'll have to build that into every crevice of your life as you move forward.

Start valuing your relationships and friendships because you'll need them.

Many of the people you live with during these few college years will be people you do life with. So, invest deeply in those relationships and less in dating a bunch of boys.

Start celebrating your people.

Stop defining your success and identity based on comparison to other people. The people beside you are meant to be teammates. But as long as you compare yourself to them, you will never be free to love them and celebrate what God is doing in their lives.

Start celebrating them, how God has built them, and what He has given them because healthy sisterhood is based on running together and celebrating each other.

Practice now because that will define your life and ministry. And it begins at this time in your life.

Love those who haven’t found Jesus yet.

Stop judging people who don't know God, and start learning what they need. Learn what they love and what they're wondering about so you can be there for them. Show up for them. Be their first call when they're going through something difficult or need a ride because they've been drinking all night.

Be there for them because they're hungry for God, and He will give you opportunities with the people you build relationships with and love well.

Learn the voice of God.

Stop making decisions based on other people's opinions. Start to learn the voice of God and listen to it. Know the Bible so you can know what sounds like God and what sounds like the world.

Rest in the unknown.

Stop worrying about the future. You think you know what you want and how this will go, but it will not go anything like you are picturing.

It will be so much harder and better than you imagine.

Rather than trying to figure it out, rest in what you don't know. I promise that God will give you the next step over and over again. But He'll never give you more than that. So, get comfortable in the waiting and the unknowns.

Obey the voice of God

Start practicing the random acts of faith and obedience God is putting on your heart right now, whether that's to pray for someone or talk to somebody about your faith.

Start practicing obeying the voice of God wherever he shows up and whatever he asks you to do because you'll need that. You're going to do wild and crazy things for God and His kingdom, but that begins with small acts of obedience. So, listen to what He wants you to do right now.

Jennie has a YouTube channel, and our team is constantly posting every week. You can use the YouTube playlists to listen to all the episodes from the podcast. You can also find a ton of videos that aren't anywhere else. You can click right here to join our YouTube community.