We
all have a need to belong and to be accepted. Some will go to
great lengths to fit in with people who are negative influences for them just
so they will be well-liked by others. Being true to you and to who God has
created you to be can feel lonely at times. Most people want to conform and
follow what everyone else is doing, but to break free from the societal norms
can seem unnerving at times.
What
does it look like to stand out from among the crowd? Your
social group is drinking alcohol but you decide not only that you will not
drink but not attend those parties that encourages drinking. Your going to
stand out, if most of your social group are drinkers and you make the decision not
to, you will be different from them. Another example would be if your neighbors
participate in Halloween but you have made a decision that you will not
participate due to your beliefs about that holiday, you possibly will be
misunderstood and may even be shunned by your neighbors.
Making decisions to follow Christ and His ways in the
culture we live in, will cause you to stand out and possibly be misjudged and
misunderstood for you beliefs. Knowing this ahead of time can save you from
being hurt when others reject you because of the stances that you are making
for Christ. Oftentimes, people are not rejecting you but Christ who is in you.
You bring conviction to their sin and that makes them feel uncomfortable; therefore,
it is easier to reject you then to continue to be around you.
How do you stand out from among the crowd?
1. Realize
that not everyone will like your convictions, if they hated and persecuted
Christ, what makes you think you will be different from those who condemn and
reject Christ?
2. Stand
firm and consistent with your beliefs and do not compromise what you believe to
fit in or have others like you. Never be swayed by someone else’s convictions.
3. Be
confident with God’s unique design for you by not comparing or desiring what
someone else has or wanting to be like someone else.
4. Be
a leader. Leaders led, not follow. This means you will need to be the
trailblazer, if no one else is doing what should be done, you can be the first
to start.
5. Be
okay with not being like everyone else. Appreciate your uniqueness and
individuality. You were made different by design, embrace that.
6. Being
different from others means that you are interesting and others are usually curious
about your uniqueness.
Our society wants you to conform to the ways of this
world, but if you are a Christian you will stand out from these. We are not
called to fit in but to stand out.
Reflect:
You
adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against
God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy
of God. James 4:4
If
the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to
the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the
world, but I have chosen you pout of the world. That is why the world hates
you. John 15:18-19
Do
not be misled: “bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33
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