How do I Overcome Peer Pressure ?

Peer pressure comes as a result of trying to please people so one of the best ways to overcome peer pressure is to change your focus from pleasing people to pleasing God according to how Paul put it in Galatians 1:10;

"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Knowing the truth and serving God at a young age and allowing Him to control you is another way to overcome peer pressure, which comes by being controlled by other people. Ecclesiastes 12:1 says;

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

In our youthful days, we must remember our Creator, we must put God first in anything we do. Pressures will definitely come up, especially when we focus so much on earthly concerns. You may be in your 20s or in high school and be pressured into doing things against God’s will e.g smoking, partying, doing drugs etc, but if you have a deep understanding of the truth of God as contained in the Bible, the pressure can not get to you.

Colossians 3:2;

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

This is why it is important to have a strong foundation in His teachings which gives you the strength to overcome pressure.

Psalm 1:2-3;

But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

Don’t think of yourself as a hypocrite because you attend church even when you’re under pressure from friends, because it is a sign that you want to dedicate a part of your life and time to something spiritual, i.e attending church and getting to know more about Him. The only problem is that sometimes youths are not able to get a suitable church that is rooted deep in the true teachings of the Lord, to attend, and once they are not grounded in the word of the God, it's easy to fall by the wayside.

In the time of the Apostles, Apostle Paul taught without ceasing for three years because he was concerned about the souls of the brethren. It is important to know that you can cut off from friends who pressure you into doing things that don’t align with the word of God.

1 Corinthians 15:33.

Do not be deceived: "Bad company ruins good morals".

With God’s calling even in your youthful age, you can find the real way to salvation. Friends may come and go but we need God always in our daily lives.