We often think of peer pressure as something we experienced when we were children or young adults. It’s difficult to realize that we experience peer pressure as grown adults. The fact is, most of us do experience peer pressure. The most common forms of peer pressure are keeping up with society such as designer clothing, cars, careers, travel, behavior etc. Some people feel pressured to live up to others standards and it is causing people to become unhappy and filled with anxiety.
As Christians, we are dedicated to living a good life following the Lord. Our beliefs direct us on the right path. While our intentions are to never stray from the righteous path, society tries it’s best to throw us into another direction.
It’s easy to get caught up in old habits. Chances are these old habits are what directed us to find the Lord in the first place. We certainly don’t want to go back after we have worked so hard to go forward.
Standing up to peer pressure isn’t always easy but it is essential to our well-being. We need to remember we have the Lord now and we must stand strong against peer pressure.
So, how do we stand up against peer pressure? We focus on the Lord and what is right. A good example is being pressured to behave a specific way at work by your co-workers. Sometimes co-workers can be angry about being mistreated by management or they are simply in the habit of complaining about everything at the office.
Let’s say you have lunch with this co-worker who is desperately pressuring you into saying something negative about the company you work for. But, you decide to remain quiet. This only makes the co-worker attempt to get you to join their anger even more. In this situation, it is difficult to see how you can stand up to peer pressure without remaining quiet. You could simply say, “I’m thankful to have this job.” And leave it at that. Sometimes it is best to avoid these types of co-workers if possible.
Peers also apply pressure by making you feel less than if you don’t have a nice car, house or clothing. The good thing is, you don’t live to please them, you live to please the Lord.
There is a funny story of a young woman who was hired to be an office assistant to the president of the company. During her first week of work she was ordered to get the president coffee, files, shop for gifts for his wife, handle last minute travel arrangements and clean the stand-in shower located in his office.
By Friday, the young woman felt like he was forcing her to bow down to him and do everything he wished, even the things that were not work-related. He walked into the office on Friday morning and ordered her to get him coffee. She asked him, “can you walk on water?” He said: “what?” The young woman went on to tell her boss that unless he can walk on water she can’t bow down to him because the only one she does that for is Jesus! Well, while this story is funny, the young woman was fired from her job. So, always make sure you understand the consequences for the way you stand up to peer pressure.
