At the conclusion of his sermon on Sunday, Pastor Charlie placed a challenge in front of everyone, including us as youth. He challenged us to be bold by being different from the world. He challenged us not to be hypocrites–saying we believe one thing and doing another or pretending to be one thing with certain people and being another thing among others. God doesn’t like people who are two-faced. He wants people who call themselves ‘Christians’ to be the same all the time: boldly loving God and other people. That may mean that you are different from other people, maybe even a lot different. I know that this can be hard, but in the end, being different is much better than being like everyone else. It honors God, and he will reward us by saying “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
It’s tough being different in middle school and high school. Your reputation rests on whether or not people think that you’re cool. If you don’t do the things that the ‘cool kids’ are doing, you’ll never make it with that crowd. Being ‘uncool’ might seem like the worst thing that could possibly happen to you, but it is not social suicide to be different. You will still have friends, and the good thing is that these friends will want to do the same things that you do. They will respect you for who you are rather than ditch you when you are no longer ‘cool enough’ for them. Those are the kind of friendships that you want. Those are the kind of people that you want to hang out with.
So take up the challenge that Pastor Charlie placed in front of us. Dare to be different. Dare to say no in situations where it is usually so easy to say yes. Say no to sex before you get married. Say no to drinking before you’re 21. Say no to smoking and drugs. Say no to picking on people. Say no to movies that you know you shouldn’t be watching. Say no to music that might sound cool but fills your mind with things that aren’t good. Say no to talking about people behind their backs. Say no. Its not easy to do.
If you want to say no, tell me about it. I’d love to pray for you and help you! God gave us a community so that we can help each other out!
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