Today we see many parents working hard to ensure their children fit in with their peers—spending beyond their means to provide the latest fashions and trendy technology for their children. They even compromise their standards to help their children blend in with the crowd. These parents have listened to the lie that being different is bad and unhealthy. Consequently, the next generation is being taught how to conform to peer pressure and is missing the vital lesson of how to stand against the culture.
We often praise God that we live in a free country when, in reality, we are enslaved to conformity.
We often praise God that we live in a free country when, in reality, we are enslaved to conformity. We are enslaved to fads, fashions, and trends. We are enslaved to what others think of us. We are terrified to be different. What kind of freedom is that?
One of the greatest lies we believe is that it is better to be accepted by the group than to stand alone for being different. Yet being different is one of the core attributes of God Himself. God is holy. He is different and set apart from all His creation. We cannot compare Him to anyone or anything else. Our human goodness can never reach anywhere near God's perfection. God said, "'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One" (Isaiah 40:25).
God wants all His children to be different just like He is different. "It is God's will that you should be sanctified" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). God calls us to be different from the world, to stand against the immorality of our culture, to set ourselves apart from the secular.
Prayer: God, thank You for making me truly free. Thank You that as I stand for You, differentiating myself from the culture around me, I honor and glorify You. May Your holiness in me draw the lost to You. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
"There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God" (1 Samuel 2:2).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef's sermon series Building Godly Families: LISTEN NOW
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