Resisting Culture & Peer Pressure

Spirituality allows us to see and believe in the world beyond the physical. God has a rich and satisfying plan for our lives, but it often means living differently than the culture around us.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2 NIV

It’s very easy to compromise our convictions or change who we are to fit in with what we see. Spirituality not only resists the pressure to fit in with the world but also rises above it. 

Listen to this Scripture Playlist to learn how to resist the culture of peer pressure so we can live the great life God has planned for us.

References:

Romans 12:2 NIV
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

John 10:10 NLT
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

James 4:4 NLT
You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.

1 John 2:15-17 NIrV
Do not love the world or anything in it. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. [16] Here is what people who belong to this world do. They try to satisfy what their sinful desires want to do. They long for what their sinful eyes look at. They take pride in what they have and what they do. All of this comes from the world. None of it comes from the Father. [17] The world and its evil desires are passing away. But whoever does what God wants them to do lives forever.

1 Corinthians 15:33 NCV
Don’t be fooled: ‘Bad friends will ruin good habits.'”

Proverbs 13:20 AMP
He who walks [as a companion] with wise men will be wise, But the companions of [conceited, dull-witted] fools [are fools themselves and] will experience harm.

Ephesians 5:11 NASB
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.

Colossians 2:8 ERV
Be sure that no one leads you away with false and empty teaching that is only human, which comes from the ruling spirits of this world, and not from Christ.

Galatians 1:10 MSG
Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave.

Jeremiah 1:18-19 MSG
“Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work. I’m making you as impregnable as a castle, Immovable as a steel post, solid as a concrete block wall. You’re a one-man defense system against this culture, Against Judah’s kings and princes, against the priests and local leaders. They’ll fight you, but they won’t even scratch you. I’ll back you up every inch of the way.”

John 17:14-16 MSG
I gave them your word; The godless world hated them because of it, Because they didn’t join the world’s ways, Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways. I’m not asking that you take them out of the world But that you guard them from the Evil One.

Proverbs 4:14-15 ERV
Don’t take the path of the wicked; don’t follow those who do evil. Avoid their ways; don’t even travel on them. Turn away and keep going.

Matthew 7:13-14 NIrV
“Enter God’s kingdom through the narrow gate. The gate is large and the road is wide that leads to ruin. Many people go that way. [14] But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to life. Only a few people find it.”

2 Timothy 2:23-25 ERV
Stay away from foolish and stupid arguments. You know that these arguments grow into bigger arguments. [24] As a servant of the Lord, you must not argue. You must be kind to everyone. You must be a good teacher, and you must be patient. [25] You must gently teach those who don’t agree with you. Maybe God will let them change their hearts so that they can accept the truth.

Matthew 5:14-16 NLT
“You are the light of the world-like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. [15] No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. [16] In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”

Psalm 146:3-5 MSG
Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don’t have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing!

Colossians 3:1-3 AMP
Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. [3] For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God.