The Spiritual Battlefield of College

By Justin Brinkmeier

This is war.

This is when your Christian roots and morals are put to the ultimate test.

Every day is a spiritual battle, but there IS victory in Jesus.

As a Christian college student, I know how challenging it can be at times to cling to those morals and values.

Pursuing a Christian lifestyle in a sinful environment not only makes you a stronger Christian, but also deepens your relationship with God.

You see, God talks quietly. You have to be close to him to hear him. You have to have that close, intimate relationship with him. But the enemy talks loudly. Planting seeds of sinful thoughts and temptation in your mind constantly.

When you become close to God, he becomes easier to hear and the enemy is easier to ignore.

In order to help any struggling college students out there wanting to pursue that rewarding Christian lifestyle, I am going to list five things that I personally do on a day to day basis with God that help me fight that spiritual battle.

Pray All Throughout the Day

Praying gives us a direct line to God. How cool is that? You don’t even have to pick up the telephone to call him up! He’s always right there waiting to listen and help you!

Praying gives us a direct line to God

Everyday when I wake up, I immediately start talking to God like he’s standing next to me. I talk to him like he’s my best friend.

Tell him what’s on your mind!

Tell him about that exam coming up and how you are stressed about it!

Tell him about that event that you are excited about!

He wants a relationship with you! You need to be open with him.

Ask him for help as you go throughout your day!

Feeling temptation taking over your mind? Ask the Lord to show you a way out and he will!

1 Corinthians 10:13 says “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

Praying gives me that lifeline to Jesus anytime I need it.

Feeling Down? Pray.

Feeling Homesick? Pray.

Feeling Worried? Pray.

Feeling Tempted? Pray.

Prayer not only gets your mind off of what was causing you trouble, but it also gives you that time with Jesus to lay those problems at the cross and say “I’m giving this to you” and then move forward.

Read the Bible Every Day

This is a big one for me.

The Bible is the Sword of the Spirit which makes it the ideal weapon when entering a spiritual battlefield.

The Bible is…the ideal weapon when entering a spiritual battefield

I take time every night to reflect on the day’s struggles and meditate on the Word of God.

I think about anything that I struggled with that day and then I read passages and scriptures that show me how I can overcome that struggle.

For example, if I had a problem with being impatient that day… that night during my Bible reading, I would look up scriptures that would tell me how to be a more patient person.

I like to call this method, “The Target Method”.

You essentially target any problems you encounter in life and fix them with scriptures directly from the Word of God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 says “All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”

“Training in righteousness”. I love that. Use the Bible to train yourself to be more like Christ. Use it like an instructions manual.

Also, if you read a verse that may be helpful during your daily struggles… memorize it! When you come to that problem, speak it out loud! Declare the Word of God over your problems. This is exactly what Jesus did in the desert when Satan tried to tempt him. Jesus used scriptures to make the devil flee from him!

This is using the Sword of the Spirit to fight your battles!

Put on the Full Armor of God

Remember that you are going into spiritual warfare everyday. You can’t go to war without armor!

You can’t go to war without armor!

In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul talks about the armor of God and how it helps us fight against evil.

Ephesians 6:10-12 says “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

There are six pieces of the armor of God:

The Belt of Truth

The Breastplate of Righteousness

The Shield of Faith

The Helmet of Salvation

The Sword of the Spirit

The Sandals prepared with the Gospel of Peace

We are told to put on every piece of armor everyday to withstand the enemy and his tactics to hurt you. Incorporate this in prayer! Ask God to put his armor on you so that the enemy will fail any time he comes to make you stumble in your walk with God.

Have Christian Friends

Having friends that share the same beliefs and morals as you is extremely beneficial when going through college.

This scripture from Hebrews really shows the importance in having friends that support your walk with God.

Hebrews 3:12-13: “Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.”

“But exhort one another every day”. This is what you want in your Christian fellowship with friends. You want to encourage each other every day about walking with Christ.

“But exhort one another every day”

If you have friends that always beat you down and are a bad influence, then the enemy is winning and you are more likely to fall into sinful ways.

My Christian friends and I stay in contact with each other every day and check up on our daily struggles. We like to keep each other in check. We also encourage one another. The Bible wants us to encourage our friends to do the right things and help them strengthen their relationship with Jesus.

Fighting the enemy with Christian friends as one body of Christ is much easier than doing it alone.

Get together with your Christian friends for a Bible study every week and take time to pray together. The Bible talks about the power of praying in groups within the book of Matthew.

Matthew 8:20 says “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on Earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

You will not find a more loyal and loving friend than a friend who has a relationship with Jesus.

Get Involved with Christian Programs

There are so many opportunities on college campuses and fortunately, most have several Christian programs that you can get involved in!

Getting involved with a local church or a campus youth group will not only increase your knowledge of the Bible and help your walk with Christ, but it will also give you a prime opportunity to find Christian friends!

Becoming a part of Christian programs can lead you to bringing souls into the Kingdom of Heaven. Do you have a friend that you are worried about spiritually? Invite them to church or a youth group meeting! You could be changing their life forever!

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All five of these aspects have set me up to have a successful college career while maintaining and strengthening my relationship with Jesus. Remember that nothing is more important than the relationship you have with Christ.

Jesus wants you to be successful and do well in college. He wants you to land that interview and get that job. He just wants to do it together. He wants to help you every step of the way. Fighting the spiritual battle is not easy, especially at college where temptation is everywhere, but cling to Jesus. Know that he has plans for your life… BIG plans!

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Have faith in Jesus and he will be with you every step of the way through college and beyond.

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Justin Brinkmeier is a biology student at West Liberty University. He has a true heart for the unsaved and shares the Word of God on many different platforms. From Facebook to Instagram, he likes to provide clarification and encouragement for people with help from the Holy Spirit. 

Justin loves to travel and see the beautiful world that God created. Justin can’t wait to see where the Lord takes him and how he will use him in the future. Following his awakening from being a lukewarm Christian, he is now on fire for Jesus and has a passion to ignite other people to become on fire for Jesus. When he is not at college, Justin lives in Middlebourne, WV. 

You can find Justin on Instagram @justinbrinkmeier