10 SECRETS OF A SUCCESSFUL STUDENT LIFE

1. KNOW YOUR PURPOSE

- Nothing should be more important in your life today than knowing your purpose
The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18 where there is no vision, the people perish
Your vision is always aligned to your purpose
- [ILLUSTRATION: Invention: owners manual. In the same vein, if you want to know your purpose, you
need to read the lifes manual-the Word of God-the BIBLE]
A man who knows exactly what he is doing is a man of purpose
He does not only do things for the momentbut more importantly, he do things for the future
because he has a clear vision of what he wants to achieve and is willing to take a risk for that
vision
- Yo! Listen to me. You need to have a life purpose so that all your steps have a precise direction
- Now what does the Bible says about your purpose?
Our primary purpose is to love God
The Bible says in Matthew 22:37, Love God with all your heart, and with all you soul and with
all your mind.
Why love God? Because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19 says, We love because he first loved us.
Our primary purpose is to love God because he first loved us.
In short, our greatest purpose is glorify Godall things we do is just a response to Gods love
for us
In Jeremiah 31:3, God declared: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you
with unfailing kindness.
We dont do things we do so that God will love us or love us more because the Bible already
declared that God loved us regardless of what we arerather we do things in response to Gods
love for us
We offer everything we do to God as a gift for Gods love for us
Thats why the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 10:19, So whether you eat or drink or
whatever you do, DO IT ALL FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
Simply put, study harder and do it for the glory of God

2. STUDY HARDER
- Studying hard is really difficult and could be very tiring
- But this becomes easier and relaxing if we dedicate our studies to the Lord
- The Bible commands us in Colossians 3:23, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as
working for the Lord
- If we are to study, are we going to study half-heartedly? Of course not because we dedicate our studies
as an offering of love to the Lord.
- [ILLUSTRATION: A monk was assigned as a cookthe rice he cook was overcookedthen he cried
The same goes to uswe have to study with diligence
We have to study as if it will be the very last thing that you will do before dying
The key to a successful study is to HARDWORK
Jesus said, Give and it shall be given back to you, good measure, press down, shaken
together and running over Luke 6:38
What I am simply saying is that, if our study is something that we offer to the Lord, we have to
give our best.
As Jesus said, whatever you give to the Lord, it shall be given back to you
If we half-heartedly studyit will produce a half-hearted result
Do your best and let God do the rest
Deuteronomy 31:6, Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or
terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he
will never leave you nor forsake you.

3. TAKE A REST
- After studying hard, you need to take a rest
- Why rest? Because you deserve it after a hard work
- Take some time to enjoy whatever that brings you joy
- Rest refreshes youit reenergizes youit takes you away from being burned out
- PROBLEM with the popular culture is that it teaches you to be passive and lazy
REST presupposes that you are tired of studying
The problem lies when we want to rest when we havent done anything in substantial amount yet
In other words-we become lazy---were always tired of doing our part without even doing a
single part of it
- SUCESSFUL people are those tire themselves, work the hardest and sacrifice a lot in their lives
- You see, most of the young people today would rather want temporary fun than long lasting enjoyment
of life because they dont want to sacrifice
- Please remember the sacrifices that our parents have madeand those people around us
- Young people, when you are tired of studying then take a rest but only when you have studied hard

4. CELEBRATE SMALL VICTORIES
- Learn to celebrate small victories
- Celebrating is actually one way of recognizing Gods goodness and favors in our lives
- When you celebrate a small or big victories, you are actually saying to God Thank you Lord for your
helpI know I wouldnt have made it had it not because of your help
- By this, we are actually giving honor to God

5. WIN FRIENDS AND HAVE FUN
- Life is not meant to be lived alone
- As the old saying goes, no man is an island
- You need a support group-a buddy who can assist you in becoming successful

6. BE HONEST
a. BE HONEST TO YOURSELF
- [ILLUSTRATION: Oh no mate, we are in trouble. While nobody knows where we are, the captain here
doesnt know who he is]
I think this story resembles the truth about us. We dont know who we are!
Thats why, we always want to identify with a group in order to have an identity-identity crisis
But that is a very poor choicedo not join a group in order to have an identity
Do not join the group because you find them cool
rather you need to know your own identity-be yourself
Look at your purpose and your life vision and you will realize your own identity
- Knowing who are requires an honest assessment about ourselves
Here you cant pretend and you cant cheat yourself
The most foolish thing that you can do to yourself is to be dishonest to yourself
Never pretend to be someone you are not because others will always know that you not what
you think you are
But you need to have a healthy view about your own identity
WHO ARE YOU? The answer is in the Bible!
The Bible says that you are capable of reaching a higher destiny

- Listen carefully, learning requires honesty
You will never learn until you admit that you need to know
You will never improve until you admit that there are some flaws that needs improvement
If you think that you are perfectthen thats the end of all
But its painful when you realize the flaws in your life
You can never be healed until you admit that you are wounded
The good thing is, when we can always come to God just as we are without any pretentions
If others despise you- God accepts you. Why? Because God calls you as his own. He is your
creator and you are his special creations. YES, YOU ARE SPECIAL IN THE EYES OF GOD
[ILLUSTRATION: This is the first time that I am going to share my story in public. The condition of my eyes is
actually the reason why I have a very low self-esteem. People bully me because of my eyes. I dont have a self-
worth. I look myself down.

b. BE HONEST TO GOD
With God, you cannot afford to be dishonest
Whatever you have and whatever it is that you are bragging aboutyour wealth, fame, intellect,
talent, looksGod is the source of all of it
In short, whatever you are bragging about is irrelevant before God because he is the source of all
that you are enjoying
As long as you are honest before Him, you will receive his grace

c. BE HONEST TO OTHERS
One of the leading reasons why friendly relationship is broken is DISHONESTY
Your friends, family, classmates and teachers and church mates deserves full honesty from you
Most of the time, difficult problems start with dishonesty

7. BE CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU HAVE
- Learn to be content with what you have
- Dont force yourself to have things you dont have
- Trust that the Lord will give it you at the appointed time
- The bible says, he will make all things beautiful in his time

8. STRIVE FOR EXCELLENCE
- Dont be contented with your current situation
- Strive to be excellent in all things you do especially in your studies
- Do not be mediocre because the God we serve is an excellent God
- The Bible says in Genesis that God saw that what He created was good
- What was the result of his creation? It was good
- So be excellent because God wants you to be excellent

9. MAKE PRAYER A HABIT
- In the Gospel of Mark,
- Pray most especially for your parents [Abby Yus story]
- Pray for your teachers that they may teach you effectively
- Pray for your friends because they may be going through a lot in life and not sharing it to you and your
friends
- Pray that God will transform you so that people may know Jesus Christ through you

10.DREAM BIG
- If you want to hit the eagle aim it at the moon, you may hit the stars rather than the eagle.
- DREAM BIG because you are destined for greatness
- The Bible says in Jeremiah 29:11, 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.