Peer Pressure

By Rachel Head

According to Merriam Webster, peer pressure is defined as “a feeling that one must do the same things as other people of one’s age and social group in order to be liked respected by them.” Many of us have experienced this “feeling” especially when we were growing up as children. But what if instead of trying to do things that please the world, we set our standards to what God wants? Instead of looking up to all of the famous actors, millionaires, or athletes, what if we focused on God? It can be so hard to not want to be like the world and fit in with them because I have like that before but God calls us to be different because we are His children.

If God has called us to be different, how can we follow that? We can start off by becoming His children and staying faithful to Him. By becoming His children, we should be obeying His every word and be following the standard that He has set for us. In 2 Peter 1:3-11, we are given a list of virtues that we should be following and that should characterize us. In verse 11, He gives us a promise of Heaven if we are obedient and faithful to God. If we do not practice those virtues in our life, we will not go to Heaven. Another set of standards to go by is the Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-26. The last three verses give us some reprimands for if we try to veer away from obeying God. So, let us look to our perfect God and follow His will and example instead of looking to the sinful world.