Peer pressure

I heard this true story: A woman was asked ‘What is the best thing about being 104 years old?’ She replied: ‘No peer-pressure.’ There is often a temptation to conform to peer-pressure and follow the standards of those around us. One area where there is a great pressure to conform is sexual morality. In this context God says to his people, ‘Don’t live like the people of Egypt where you used to live, and don’t live like the people of Canaan where I’m bringing you. Don’t do what they do. Obey my laws and live by my decrees. I am your God’ (vv.2–4, MSG). Like the ancient Israelites we live in a culture that has very different sexual ethics to God’s. God wants you to safeguard his wonderful gift of sex, and not get enticed into following those around you. Be careful to follow God’s ways. If you do, far from missing out, you will actually find life; ‘the person who obeys [God’s decrees and laws] will live by them’ (v.5). God’s people are called to be different. St Paul wrote, ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world’ (Romans 12:2). This call to be different goes right back to the earliest days of God’s people (Leviticus 18).