Pressure's On!

by Tiffany S.
from Virtuous Daughters, March 2008~Volume 7, Number 12

Peer pressure has a powerful influence on young people especially. Although it can be positive, the phrase usually gives a negative connotation. Because this is a prevalent force, we must learn how to defend our faith and convictions without compromising, even in “little” things.

​In a way, peer pressure has been a common thing for many years. Trends in clothing, accessories, and attitudes are a classic example. Laura Ingalls Wilder implied in her book, Little Town on the Prairie, that she buckled under peer pressure. She wore the clothing in style (because it was in style), despite the fact that it did not match her personal tastes.

Countless young people are intimidated. They feel confined to the dress, styles, education and career plans, and attitudes of everyone else. They want to fit in. But some bold people will tell you that it is worthwhile to live outside of the box. It’s called being different.

I was told at graduation that “The road less traveled is always an adventure worth taking.” That was a fun dose of encouragement! It certainly described how I felt sometimes. :)

There are times when peer pressure is helpful because our peers are encouraging us to do what is right. Still, we have to find fulfillment in standing by our faith and convictions regardless of what others are or are not doing.

How should we respond to peer pressure? Should we buckle? No, obviously not. Yet there’s that tendency to be like everyone else. It’s a longing to fit in—a desire to compromise, just a little,—to be accepted.

Too often we view peer pressure as a terrible predicament that hurts our self-worth or self-confidence. Pressure, even if it is in a negative force, can always work for good to be used for the glory of God! J. Hudson Taylor wisely said, “It doesn’t matter, really, how great the pressure is; it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord—then, the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast.”
    
We have all read about Christians who chose to be different—to make a difference. Did it start one day when something questionable came up? No. It started in their youth, when they were forming habits and choosing the path of the Lord. This  boldness starts in our youth. Does the Bible allude to this truth? Yes. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”—Proverbs 22:6 I think we would all like to live up to this next Scripture in Proverbs 20:11: “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.”
  
Standing alone—not buckling under peer pressure—begins in childhood. One of my earliest memories is being at the McDonald’s playground and yearning to go up the slide instead of down it, since all my friends were gleefully enjoying that practice. Even in the mental debate that no one was coming down the slide so I certainly wouldn’t be hurt, I had to stand by my word and be obedient to my mother. It’s a little thing, looking back, but at the time it took a lot of courage to be different from the other kids.
  
If we choose to let the comments and criticism from others bother us, we will be very unsuccessful in the work God has for us. People want us to give in. It makes them feel better. It does not hurt their pride. But we have a God Who demands our obedience and our devotion! We must be faithful to Him!
  
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”—Titus 2:11–14
  
Are you willing to be peculiar for Jesus’ sake? Standing alone is not only  being a young woman of conviction. It is also a result of having a zealous devotion to God. If Christ could suffer extreme amounts of torture, criticism, rejection, hatred, persecution, even death, surely we can we bring ourselves to go against the flow when it is not “flowing” in the right direction. The grace of God will surely be our enablement!
  
As a side note: what happens when we do “go with the flow”? I love the following analogy: “You know what the boats do when they float with the current; they keep going downstream all the while. Would you like that in your Christian life?” (from Browns at Mount Hermon, by Isabella Alden)
  
Girls, have we denied our Lord? Oh, that can be such a painful question! Titus 1:16 says “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”
  
When we are not bold enough to do what is right, we are denying our Savior. This is very serious. “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.”—Matthew 10:38–39
  
There was a man who had been told about Jesus by a group of professing Christians. He pondered the matter, but before he had made a decision, he found the group in “secret sin.” This baffled him, and he rejected Christ all his life.
  
Eric Liddell said, “We are all missionaries. . . . Wherever we go, we either bring people nearer to Christ, or we repel them from Christ.” Remember that being persecuted for our faith in Christ is a good thing. It means that we are moving in the right direction! It’s called growing pains. During trials and stresses, these pains are a reminder that we are growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”—2 Timothy 3:12       

Never forget this precious reminder from Matthew 5: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” If you read the book of Acts, you will understand more fully what it means to be persecuted. We know so little of pressure and strains. When Peter was reproved for spreading the Gospel, this is what was said about him: “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”—Acts 5:41–42
  
If you profess to have a relationship with the Savior, you are a missionary. What message are you portraying when a group is going against the ways of your Lord? Do you stand up for the One you love, or do you deny Him? Do those you come into contact with long to know your God, or do they shun Him because of your weakness to do what is righteous and holy? Our habits begin forming when we are children, but it’s never too late to commit a life completely dedicated to Christ. Jim Elliot reminded us that “Christ needs some young fellows to sell out to Him and recklessly toss their lives into His work.” Will you be one of them?
  
“My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.”—2 Corinthians 12:9