“O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! – (Deuteronomy 5:29)
This verse is from the very heart of God. As the children of Israel prepared to enter Canaan land, the Lord knew how quickly they would be enticed by the idolatries of the people around them. Friendship with the world would bring the desire for acceptance by compromising truth for error – and it still happens today.
Peer pressure isn’t just in the world. It’s a huge part of the professing church, which is really a branch of the world with a religious mask on. It keeps a pretense of “religion” while adopting lifestyles and doctrines that God will not bless. When a Christian is expected to compromise (and it’s never the other way around), they expect a person to give up truth from God’s Word, to accommodate error.
How does a person fight this kind of pressure? The Lord has the answer… “Do not be conformed to this world (letting outside pressure shape you): but be transformed (inside power) by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
The renewing of our minds in God’s Word daily, will keep us strong and vibrant within, and able to withstand all the outside pressures of compromise. By being in God’s Word we will be able to “prove” what is and isn’t His will, what pleases God and what doesn’t, what doctrine is really from Him and what isn’t.
The only way to fight compromise is with conviction of truth – otherwise called “faith.” And faith comes by hearing God's Word (Romans 10:17) and is energized by love for Christ (Galatians 5:6). Conviction and Love. That’s an unbeatable team.
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