An obedient daughter, a faithful friend, a studious high school student. That was me. Until…one day when I attended a business class workshop.
Several girls from our senior class attended a workshop off school property. Dismissed early, three other students didn’t want to go back to class but decided to drive around town. I knew if I went back to school alone the other girls would get into trouble, so I went along with them. My excuse was lame, but the truth. I knew I was displeasing the Lord, but I made the poor choice anyway.
Cutting class was a new experience for me. Quite fascinating, but I felt a heavy blanket of guilt for days. I always felt I’d be caught doing wrong so I wasn’t usually a willing participant. Strangely, the experience turned out to be a good one.
Remembering how I felt when I did wrong, cutting class wasn’t something I wanted to repeat. I allowed myself to be led away from my own conviction by others’ decisions that time, and my tender conscience was uneasy. Once was enough.
God’s Word tells us not to be led off-course and not to allow others’ choices to determine ours. I learned it was important to make my own decisions instead of following what others did, especially if it was against my better judgment.
Who influences your decisions? Do friends lead you where you didn’t intend to go? Do you end up paying a higher price for an indiscretion than you expected to? Or, like a young friend expressed to me, “I always look forward to the next big event with my friends or a dance or whatever. Then when I go to the event, I feel a let-down. It’s never as exciting as I was told it would be.”
Maybe you don’t want to be the only one doing the right thing. I didn’t. But I hope you decide, like I finally did, that displeasing the Lord isn’t worth the outcome.
Make choices based on your personal values rather than walking blindly behind others.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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What a timely word for all of us - young and old!