Determine to be Light

“This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Eph. 4:17-24

Talk with most people these days and you’ll probably get this type of response about spiritual matters: “Oh, everybody has their own beliefs” or “Don’t push your religious beliefs on others. You have your beliefs and I have mine. Let’s leave it at that.” Sound familiar? Instead of shrugging it off as just a “difference of opinion,” look closer and you’ll discover something very interesting about Satan’s strategy of keeping people in the dark.

Those who don’t want you to push your religious beliefs down their throats are the same ones who often brazenly “push” their own views on you. Peer pressure is not restricted to teens. It is a force you deal with all of your life. It is an issue you need to settle in your teen years; then in later life you’ll have the courage and background to stand against wrong - even when it is popular.

The Bible often speaks of the lost as those whose minds or understanding are “darkened”; they have no light - no understanding. Satan expends great effort to keep them cloaked in that darkness; for if they ever see the light of the real Christ, Satan’s grip would be lost, and they would turn to and embrace the Light.