I am trying to set the time on my DS3231, then read that time on my arduino nano. This is for a digital clock project. I am using DS3232 library by JChristensen.

He has an example that can set the DS3231 time through the serial monitor, and it works great, but I don't understand how to implement it into my sketch.

I can confirm that once the external RTC is set using said example, I can then upload my code, and the clock holds time when unplugged. It's setting the time within my sketch that I can't figure out. I've been at it for about 8 hours today and read through the github resources.

Here's my code. Towards the top you can see my attempt to set the system time, then set it to the RTC.

 #include "SevSeg.h"; 
 #include <DS3232RTC.h>; //Jack Christensen 
 https://github.com/JChristensen/DS3232RTC
 #include <Streaming.h>; //Mikal Hart https://github.com/janelia- 
 arduino/Streaming
 //Also requires time library https://github.com/PaulStoffregen/Time 
 SevSeg sevseg; 
 void setup() {
 // put your setup code here, to run once:
 //Serial.begin(9600);
 setSyncProvider(RTC.get);// the function to get the time from the RTC
 setTime(8,0,0,20,1,2020);
 time_t t = now();
 RTC.set(now()); 
 byte numDigits = 4;
 byte digitPins[] = {2, 3, 4, 5};
 byte segmentPins[] = {6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12};
 bool resistorsOnSegments = false; // 'false' means resistors are on digit 
 pins
 byte hardwareConfig = COMMON_CATHODE; // See README.md for options
 bool updateWithDelays = false; // Default 'false' is Recommended
 bool leadingZeros = false; // Use 'true' if you'd like to keep the leading 
 zeros
 bool disableDecPoint = true; // Use 'true' if your decimal point doesn't 
 exist or isn't connected. Then, you only need to specify 7 segmentPins[]
 sevseg.begin(hardwareConfig, numDigits, digitPins, segmentPins, 
 resistorsOnSegments,
 updateWithDelays, leadingZeros, disableDecPoint);
 }
 void loop() {
 sevseg.setChars("hola");
 sevseg.refreshDisplay();
 if(millis()>6000) {
 int adj = 0;
 int timenumber; 
 int hr = hourFormat12();
 int Min = minute();
 timenumber = (hr*100) + Min; //converts time into a number for the seven 
 segment display
 sevseg.setNumber(timenumber);
 sevseg.refreshDisplay();
 } 
 }

And JChristensen's Example Code:

// Arduino DS3232RTC Library
// https://github.com/JChristensen/DS3232RTC
// Copyright (C) 2018 by Jack Christensen and licensed under
// GNU GPL v3.0, https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
//
// Example sketch to display the date and time from a DS3231
// or DS3232 RTC every second. Display the temperature once per
// minute. (The DS3231 does a temperature conversion once every
// 64 seconds. This is also the default for the DS3232.)
//
// Set the date and time by entering the following on the Arduino
// serial monitor:
// year,month,day,hour,minute,second,
//
// Where
// year can be two or four digits,
// month is 1-12,
// day is 1-31,
// hour is 0-23, and
// minute and second are 0-59.
//
// Entering the final comma delimiter (after "second") will avoid a
// one-second timeout and will allow the RTC to be set more accurately.
//
// No validity checking is done, invalid values or incomplete syntax
// in the input will result in an incorrect RTC setting.
//
// Jack Christensen 08Aug2013
#include <DS3232RTC.h> // https://github.com/JChristensen/DS3232RTC
#include <Streaming.h> // http://arduiniana.org/libraries/streaming/
void setup()
{
 Serial.begin(115200);
 // setSyncProvider() causes the Time library to synchronize with the
 // external RTC by calling RTC.get() every five minutes by default.
 setSyncProvider(RTC.get);
 Serial << F("RTC Sync");
 if (timeStatus() != timeSet) Serial << F(" FAIL!");
 Serial << endl;
}
void loop()
{
 static time_t tLast;
 time_t t;
 tmElements_t tm;
 // check for input to set the RTC, minimum length is 12, i.e. yy,m,d,h,m,s
 if (Serial.available() >= 12) {
 // note that the tmElements_t Year member is an offset from 1970,
 // but the RTC wants the last two digits of the calendar year.
 // use the convenience macros from the Time Library to do the conversions.
 int y = Serial.parseInt();
 if (y >= 100 && y < 1000)
 Serial << F("Error: Year must be two digits or four digits!") << endl;
 else {
 if (y >= 1000)
 tm.Year = CalendarYrToTm(y);
 else // (y < 100)
 tm.Year = y2kYearToTm(y);
 tm.Month = Serial.parseInt();
 tm.Day = Serial.parseInt();
 tm.Hour = Serial.parseInt();
 tm.Minute = Serial.parseInt();
 tm.Second = Serial.parseInt();
 t = makeTime(tm);
 RTC.set(t); // use the time_t value to ensure correct weekday is set
 setTime(t);
 Serial << F("RTC set to: ");
 printDateTime(t);
 Serial << endl;
 // dump any extraneous input
 while (Serial.available() > 0) Serial.read();
 }
 }
 t = now();
 if (t != tLast) {
 tLast = t;
 printDateTime(t);
 if (second(t) == 0) {
 float c = RTC.temperature() / 4.;
 float f = c * 9. / 5. + 32.;
 Serial << F(" ") << c << F(" C ") << f << F(" F");
 }
 Serial << endl;
 }
}
// print date and time to Serial
void printDateTime(time_t t)
{
 printDate(t);
 Serial << ' ';
 printTime(t);
}
// print time to Serial
void printTime(time_t t)
{
 printI00(hour(t), ':');
 printI00(minute(t), ':');
 printI00(second(t), ' ');
}
// print date to Serial
void printDate(time_t t)
{
 printI00(day(t), 0);
 Serial << monthShortStr(month(t)) << _DEC(year(t));
}
// Print an integer in "00" format (with leading zero),
// followed by a delimiter character to Serial.
// Input value assumed to be between 0 and 99.
void printI00(int val, char delim)
{
 if (val < 10) Serial << '0';
 Serial << _DEC(val);
 if (delim > 0) Serial << delim;
 return;
}