Aug 24: Who am I?

I had never been interested in politics. I didn’t care who the president was or how high (or low) taxes were. I was a political ‘none’ who found little interest in the discussion and even less patience for the arguments. And then something changed.

I found myself wondering why things were the way they were. I started listening to talk radio and reflecting on sound bites from political leaders. And then it happened – I got in my first argument about politics. I went back to my dorm room to cool down. I looked in the mirror and wondered, ‘who am I?’ I never cared this much about politics. What’s happening to me?

A new interest in politics wasn’t the only thing that changed about me. My interest in music changed, the kinds of people I wanted to be around, and even my hopes for the future all seemed to change drastically during that first year of undergrad. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but all of these changes made me anxious. I didn’t know that this was a part of the process of becoming an adult.

Undergrad changes a person. Depending on how long you’ve been in college, this experience is changing you into someone different than you were in 12th grade. Just a few days on campus can cause you to question old assumptions and embrace new ideas. Give it a year or two and you might not even recognize your old self. This is important to remember as college is a season of transition. Paul speaks to this change like this:

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” 1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

With emerging adulthood comes a ‘growing up’ of views, perspectives, opinions, and ideals. We can talk about which changes are productive for our future & which ones are destructive. Some new ideas will be embraced by the people you love, and others will be difficult for them to accept. To be honest, these changes could be difficult to personally accept. As change happens, keeping your heart open to God before, during and after is what will give you stability. Whether it’s the world around us, the people among us, or our own way of thinking – change is inevitable, but God’s love for us never changes. Nothing, not even the realization of political convictions, can separate us from God’s love revealed in Jesus.

August 24, 2017