Fitting in and Standing Out
“You should totally hop on this new trend”
“You are probably the only one...that’s actually cool”
“You’re the first”
Peer pressure is a term we all hear before that our minds subconsciously goes to thinking about students. However peer pressure is seen in society, family, churches, it's everywhere and with that comes the concept of attention. Sometimes hopping on the new flex is because of the attention behind. The same is when it's the opposite, it's the lack of brought up attention. Nonetheless, God didn't not create every human to be similar because then the unique wouldn't apply to neither of us. People are going to talk regardless. It is probably something we must learn to register and not let it hold too much energy on us. Therefore, if we hop on the new trend it must be because we need to better ourselves and not want it. Knowing the difference will go a long way.
Looking at three books, we will see how each part are puzzles to the bigger picture. Starting with the verse of John 15:18-19 says:
If the world hates you, remember that they hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as it loves its own people. But I have chosen you to be different from those in the world. So you don’t belong to the world, and that is why the world hates you.
- John 15:18 -19
To read further we look at Galatians 6:7-8
“If you think you can fool God, you are only fooling yourselves. You will harvest what you plant. If you live to satisfy your sinful self, the harvest you will get from that will be eternal death. But if you live to please the Spirit, your harvest from the Spirit will be eternal life.
- Galatians 6:7 - 8
The verse of Hebrew 13:5 concludes it with “Keep your lives free from the love of money. And be satisfied with what you have. God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never run away from you.”
All these verses highlight the same theme of embracing what the Lord has for each and one of us. We must however do the work in finding and discovering ourselves without getting lost in the noise of school, society, family and church. Take the time to further read the passages presented above and evaluate yourself. Are you fitting in for a purpose or is standing out your way of diverting the attention to what is important.