Category: School

It is back to school time. Whether you go to a public or private school or are home schooled and meet with other students from time to time, you must make sure that you live properly before others.

Some of your class-mates may not care about serving God at all. They may be more interested in things that you know displease God. Though you have to be around such people, you do not have to be like them.

1 Corinthians 15:33 warns us that friends who do not serve God could teach us to do ungodly things. We can pick up filthy words from people who use foul language. These words do not please or glorify God, Colossians 3:8.

If our close friends get angry quickly, we can develop bad tempers, Proverbs 22:24-25. A person who loses his temper does not glorify God, James 1:19-20.

Some people like to do many things that destroy themselves and others. They may drink alcohol, use drugs, or look at magazines and movies that they should not see. They will think you are strange if you do not do it either:

For you spent enough time in the past doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in sensuality, sinful desires, drunkenness, wild celebrations, drinking parties, and detestable idolatry. They insult you now because they are surprised that you are no longer joining them in the same excesses of wild living. 1 Peter 4:3-4 (ISV)

Even if people do insult you, you do not have to please them. They will have to answer to God for the way they lived if they do not repent. You know you will be judged by God; therefore, you should not follow their evil ways.

When I was in school, choosing to do the right thing meant that I was not always popular with my friends. Sometimes when they wanted to do something wrong and I told them I would not, others took courage and did not do the wrong thing.

Sometimes I had to let them go without me because they would not do right and I would not do wrong. Make friends of people who want to please God and encourage one another to do right

Author Unknown

Several years ago a Christian girl told me about an incident with a young man who had been trying to date her. He was not a member of the church, and they just did not have anything in common. She had turned him down twice and now she had said “no” to attending a rock concert with him. In a kind of mock exasperation, the young man asked, “What do you do for fun?  You don’t dance, you don’t drink, you don’t attend rock concerts. What do you do for fun?”

She replied, “For fun, I get up in the morning without feeling embarrassed, ashamed, or guilty about what I did the night before.” The young man had nothing more to say. She was right; it is not fun to feel guilty for your actions the night before. There are many things in life that are fun. For example, the Christian girl is now married to a fine Christian man. They have a little girl and are building an outstanding Christian home together. Think of the fun she is having.

She is having fun every day living without the scars of fornication, drugs, alcohol, or regrets from her past. She is having fun getting ready each afternoon to receive a husband home from work; knowing that he will not be stopping off at the local bar for a few drinks with his friends. She is having fun knowing that her little girl will never see her father in a drunken stupor or experimenting with drugs. She is having fun knowing that while he is away from her, his Christian conduct will not allow infidelity or even flirting. She is having fun watching him hold his little girl on his lap with loving, protective arms. She is having fun living with the assurance that the home will be led by a spiritual leader who will guide each family member towards heaven.

The list of fun things for the Christian is endless.

What do you do for fun?

How would you feel if someone started calling you bad names?  What if they made fun of your clothes or your friends?  Would you like it if they made fun of the way you play sports, talk, or your hair?  I think all of us are hurt, and sometimes
angry, when someone makes fun of us or teases us.

We need to remember how bad it feels so we do not tease or make fun of other people.  Some people in school, at church, or in our neighborhood are easy to make fun of.  Maybe they don’t look like everyone else or have some things that everyone else has.  Of course, God made us all different and we should be proud of our differences.  But we should never make jokes about other people.  Jesus said we should treat others as we want to be treated (Matt. 7:12).

In fact, the Bible goes further to say that we should treat others better than ourselves, Philippians 2:3.  This means that we should treat ourselves well and treat others even better.  We must show love towards our enemies, Matthew 5:44.

How can you love someone who makes fun of you or is mean to you?  First, you pray for that person to change, not only so they will leave you alone but that they would learn to be like Jesus. 

Secondly, do not make fun of them because they made fun of you.  Have you ever seen a fight with just one person?  Don’t let another person draw you into the meanness of calling one another names. Ignore them. Let them know by your
example that you will not stoop to their level. They will often be mad that you won’t say bad things back to them. They also get mad because they are not getting you mad!  They will be the ones who look bad, not you.

Finally, remember that people who make fun of other people, deep down, do not love themselves. A person who feels very good about himself will not feel any need to bring others down to make himself look better.  Feel sorry for the person that thinks so little of himself that he has to bring you down to feel good.

I would beg you, as ones who love God, to especially avoid teasing people whom you go to church with.  It is sad to see young people who are supposed to love God, saying such mean things to and about one another, teasing others, or keeping others out of “their group.”  We are all trying to go to heaven and we need one another.  Speak words that build one another up.  Do not destroy someone with your words, Galatians 5:14-15.