You know how it is, you are talking with your friends and all of the sudden you see your youth pastor come up, so you change your conversation.
What's up with that? Are you doing something that your youth pastor wouldn't be proud of?
Then why are you doing it? Don't you realize that you are doing it in front of Jesus whether your youth pastor is there or not?
This is a sign that you haven't really grown up much as a Christian.
What if you are around some friends at school who aren't saved or are not radical, committed Christians and all of a sudden your friends from youth group come up? Do you mumble the conversation of change the subject?
Why is that? Is there something that you're saying to those who aren't saved or those who are half-hearted Christians that you would be ashamed to say in front of people who are really committed?
Again, this is a sign of immaturity.
Jesus said, "How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44). Paul said in Gal. 1:10, "If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."
A mature Christian comes to a decision: "Who am I going to please?"
If I believe in Jesus and I've given my life to Him, then He's the one I'm trying to please. Trying to please people around me is giving in to peer pressure.
People wouldn't have any problems with peer pressure if they didn't care what other people thought. It is time for us to begin to care more about what God thinks about us than what other people think about us.
Peer pressure will affect your spirituality. It will affect whether or not you pray publicly over your food or over your test. If will affect your conversation.
It will affect the way you act and what jokes you laugh at when nobody else is around.
Our spirituality should not be something that we put on just when "spiritual people" are around us. It is something we pray through every morning before we ever leave our Quiet Time. We commit to God that we are going to act like a spiritual man or woman no matter who else is around because we know He is around all day long.
Commit to pray through everything that you are going to do today.
Pray "Lord, whether there are other mature Christians near me or not, I want to fully represent You because I want to be a mature believer today."
Excerpt permission granted by Albury Publishing