FOOD FOR TEENS: PEER PRESSURE

Let's talk peer pressure, have you observed that at this current stage of your life, the most influential people in your life are your friends. You might not readily agree to this but when you do a deep search into your heart you will discover that this is true. As peers the main tools of influence is ridicule, they would make fun of you for not making foolish decisions with them. The problem with peer pressure at this stage of your life is that your peers are probably dumber and more ignorant than you think. They create an impression of one of deep experience and knowledge about life but as time goes on you will discover the level of their foolishness.

Don't get me wrong, not all peer pressure are bad, some are actually good, pushing you to demand more of yourself than you would normally do, but the truth is, this kinds of peers are rare at this stage, there are more foolish ones. So the secret to moving with the right kind of peer influence is to select your friends carefully. Proverbs 13:20 says, "He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." The wise learn from other people's mistakes and they tread with caution but the foolish learn by experience, (when they finally decide to learn and often times It is too late), they always use themselves as guinea pigs instead of allowing other people's experiences teach them.

Another reason why foolish friends are so dangerous is because they are the loudest and most persuasive, they would rather drag you along with them because they hate to make mistake alone, they look for who to drag along with them to console themselves when it goes bad. Proverbs 4:14-17, "Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence." To avoid being a victims of wrong peer pressure, start by avoiding the wrong companies, 1st Corinthians 15:33 says, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." The easiest way to do this is to learn to say NO sometimes. It's not enough to stay away from places where evil people congregate like in bars and clubs, sometimes these wrong friends could be in class, department, place of work and even in your church and avoiding them would not be easy, be bold enough to say no to their devilish suggestions, speak boldly and audaciously and declare why you can't live like them because the greater One lives in you and you are born again.

When they discover that they can't convince you because of your strong will, they will result to ridicule, this is where many young people fail and succumb because they hate being ridiculed, therefore they yield to these evil peer groups to avoid looking like fools but you must understand this; that when you refuse to follow the way of sinners, you are light years ahead of them, they would realize this later in the future. I remember as a teenager I made a vow with God never to consume alcohol, but my peer group after trying to cajole me without success, began to make fun of me of being a weak man but guess what? Several years down the line most of them has given up alcohol as they have seen that it's doesn't really bring anything good to them but if you had seen us as teens you would never have guessed, I was the one making the right decision, even so you must ignore every jibe and be conscious that God is True and your peers are liars.

God bless you and see you next month.