All my life I've been concerned about who's watching and is what I'm doing bumping me up on the ladder of popularity. However, just recently, God has been impressing upon me the question, "Who are you looking to please, me or the people in this world?" We need to recognize that we should be living for only an audience of one, Jesus Christ.
The Word says in Thessalonians 2:12, "We plead, encourage and urge you to live your life in a way that God considers worthy." When we have choices that need to be made, we have two paths, one that brings life, and the other that brings death. The choice is either going to bring glory to the Kingdom of God, or it is going to grieve the Holy Spirit. It usually starts small. For example, a girls likes this guys who she knows she shouldn't get involved. She has a choice. Because the enemy is already defeated he tries to get us to rationalize. "Well, I'll just hang out with him when there are other people around." turns into "Well, we will just hang out alone durnig the day." Turns into, "Okay, well, one movie in the basement isn't against the law, is it?" And this keeps going on and on until on day you realize how far away you are from where you started. The word says that, "[We need to be] Faithful to the little things, before we can be trusted with a lot." [Luke 19:12] This ties into James 1:2 where it talks about how when we come up against trials, or temptations we need to make the right choices so that we can develop perseverance. Then, the next time an attractive male, or female, comes along we can say, "hey, I have more perseverance than I did before and I know that God will bring me the perfect person to me in His perfect timing.
Our flesh is in a constant battle with our spirit. The bible states over and over that we need to "Fight the good fight of faith. [1 Timothy 6:12], that, "Everyone runs the race, run to win." [1 Corinthians 9:24], that as Christians we need to, "Run with endurance." [Hebrews 12:1-2] All these verses talk about the challenges of this life on earth but what does this have to do with popularity? As my youth pastor always states, spirits reproduce spirits. This means that when you surround yourself with people that have spirits of drugs, alcohol, swearing, etc. even if you believe that you can resist the temptations, they are going to be stronger and more intense are harder to resist. Now, on the same page, if you surround yourself with Christian friends that support you are the temptations to do this such as drugs and drink going to be nearly as strong? No! By only have Christian friends that support you, who are you going to go get drunk with in the first place?
Up until my senior year I was appeared to be a strong Christian. I hadn't touched drugs, alcohol, the party life or even swearing. I was involved in my youth group on the Welcome Team, volunteered in the nursery, and attended almost every event my church offered. However, my flesh longed to be in the "popular crowd". So, I started hanging out with people that didn't have the same morals and beliefs that I did. And what happened? I started doing things that I was dead-set against only a couple months before. Now as I look back on the prayers that I wasted on longing to be friends with these people that helped me compromised who I was and thank God that he didn't allow this to happen. I wonder, what if I had gotten involved with these people my freshman year when I wasn't as strong as a Christian. Would I have gotten my life straightened out again like it is now or would I be a totally different, and worse, person?
God created each and every one of us with a God shaped hole. Nothing PERIOD can fill this hole except God. However, the enemy created imitations that seem to fill this hole such as: popularity, drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. These things seem to fill this God-shaped hole but, in the end, only create more pain and longing.
Be yourself. The word says that he will call nations to our feet. This means that with God's favor, people will be attracted to us for who we are in Christ. And these will be people that will lift us up, not tear us down.
The question is, "Are you bring them closer to God, or are they bringing you away from God."
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