The Rules
These are rules that I have put together that have been tested and proven successful if followed completely. They are rules intended to help a young man of God be successful at college as well as guard his purity and reputation in Christ. These rules are also designed to aid young men in helping young ladies guard their purity and reputation .
Rules for the Success of Young College Men
By Tim Pearce
These are the rules. You will notice that these are entitled “The Rules”. This means that they are not up for debate. There are no exceptions. These are not guidelines or suggestions, they are rules. I will guarantee you that if you strictly abide by and follow all of these rules; you will have the most wonderful Christian college experience that can possibly be had. These rules have been tried and tested and when followed to the letter, have had a 100% success rate. You will excel not only academically, but in your spiritual life, in your friendships and in purity. These rules will help to set you apart from the ways of the world, not just the secular world, but from the Post Modern Americana Christian World.
The following rules are in no particular order of importance, save the first rule. You cannot be a truly successful young man of God unless you view these rules as a whole and not a list from which you can pick or choose. However, if you follow the first rule, then the others will fall into place. I will say that the rest of the rules will be easy if you cling wholly to rule number 1.
1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and think through each decision from your Savior’s stand-point and not your own. Use the Bible as a filter through which all of your decisions and thoughts must pass.
2. Set aside time to read the Bible and pray every day. This is vital to the success of this contract. You must have a quiet time.
3. Attend church regularly. Sunday morning is not sleep or homework catch-up time.
4. Work hard. You are at college to get an education, everything else is bonus. Homework comes before all other activities. If you work hard and plan well, you will have time for some of the other activities.
5. Sleep! If you are doing rule number four, then most nights you will have plenty of time to sleep.
6. Go to Class!!! You are paying good money to go to school, it becomes your career while you are in college and missing class can be a major setback. With the exception of perhaps, vomiting or loss of a limb, get to class!
7. Interact in class. Answer questions, give input. Do not be afraid to look foolish, you will look more foolish down the road, if you do not know the information.
8. Visit your professors. Go see them in their offices, ask them questions, and build a rapport. Interact with them in class.
9. Have a calendar, either paper or electronic. Look ahead and enter due dates and plan for major projects. You do not want to be taken by surprise when several things are due at once.
10. Do not be in an exclusive relationship. Make lots of friends, both guys and girls. Through your interactions with many people in large groups you will be able to truly see the way a young woman acts and treats others. If you are spending time one-on-one, then you will only see glimpses of what she wants you to see and you are only showing her what you would like her to see. You will end up marrying your best friend and you will know her very well through that non-exclusive friendship.
11. You are to never be alone with a girl. Never! Her reputation as a young woman of God is at stake. You are to never be alone with a girl in a car, no matter how innocent it may seem. You will not be alone with a girl in a room or anywhere else for that matter. You will never pray alone with a girl or study the Bible alone with a girl. Those are intimate things that can lead to other intimate things. If you become a tutor, you will not tutor girls. If you need a study partner, it will not be a girl. No matter how inconvenient it may be, you do not be alone with a girl. Your reputation as a light for Christ is on the line. People may know you pretty well, but they may not know what you are doing while alone with a girl(s).
12. Look at a girl appropriately as if she is your sister. If she is not dressed in a way that protects your innocence, then she is not a young lady with whom you should spend time. The way a young lady dresses is showing off her heart. Flee evil. Even if she is dressed modestly, look at her eyes. We are guys and we lust and our eyes wander, so pray for strength. Do not think that you are above this type of problem; that is when trouble begins. If you are lusting in your heart after a young woman, then you are not only sinning against yourself and God, but you are taking something from her as well. Her body belongs to God first and then her future husband; hands off and eyes off.
13. Do not flirt. You may not think that you are sending signals or even intend to, but you may very well be anyway. Girls want to be loved; they want the attention of a guy. They seek different types of attention, but they do want your attention. Girls are vulnerable and can be easily hurt. If you are upfront with all of your female friends that you are seeking friendship, then they will generally know where they stand with you.
Be wary! There are some young women who want to be physical. They will tell you what you want to hear and feed your massive guy ego. Just a heads up.
14. For everything else; refer to rule number one!
