I Don't Want to Fit in!

Then a herald shouted out, 'People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king's command! When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar's gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.'" Daniel 3:4-6 (NLT)

When we hear the words "peer pressure," we often think of just teenagers. But pressure to conform doesn't go away once we leave our school days. It isn't limited to any one age, gender or status group. In one form or another, every culture is influenced by the pressure to belong.

King Nebuchadnezzar commanded "people of all races and nations and languages" to bow down and worship an image of himself. All people, of all types, were subject to his pressure to conform.

We, too, are under pressure to conform daily.

To keep our clothes, cars or condos up to date. To meet society's demands about body image. Daily we can be pushed to "bow down" to the gods of bellyaching, buying and working.

We all experience the pressure of society's standards.

But I've decided I don't want to do it any more. I don't want to fit in, if fitting in means going against God's best for His glory and my good.

Like the three brave young men who stood up to King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3 and bravely refused to bow down to the gold statue of the king, we too can be brave and refuse peer pressure. We can reach out to Jesus for the strength, courage and determination to not "bow down" to culture's definition of behavior. Boldly, we can choose to be a people who exude the traits of Jesus — the fruit of the Spirit. And in turn, we can teach our children to be bold too.

When we display love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control we become different. And it's a difference that is godly.

It is all too easy for me to just go along each day with what society calls "normal." Yet we are called to stand up and stand out for You. choose to be different and choose to allow Your life to flow through him!