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Topic: Peer Pressure (07/05/04)
TITLE: LUKE'S CHOICE By Anthony David 07/09/04 |
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But Luke also wanted to belong to a group or two of boys around his age. He looked around as he entered a new college. There were so many groups and subgroups amongst the students. Each group was centered on some activity or passion.
Some groups majored on the latest fashions in dress. Others rocked as it were on the latest rock numbers. Music was their heartbeat. The computer geeks formed a group of their own. There was a high academic group too. Those boys were always after all the gold medals! Of course, there were others who were on drugs, & those who regularly boycotted classes to gather in a movie house!
Luke felt a bit overawed by all these peer groups. He began first to introspect and do some self-discovery. This was partly natural as he was just coming out of his adolescent identity crisis. “What are my interests? Where do I fit in?” He began to ask himself seriously.
He sought out other believers in the large group. They formed a tiny fellowship group. They began to use part of their lunch hour to meet and pray together. But that was not all. Luke was also interested in academics and so found time for the high academic group. His interest in playing the keyboard also found him a subgroup to belong to.
Luke managed to maintain his balance well. He belonged mostly to the fellowship group, but was on the periphery of the other two groups.
As he slowly came out of the college and began to build his life, Luke became more or less, a well-rounded personality. His experience in the peer groups had given him the ability to live and work in the wide world.
His own strong faith in the Lord, his regular communion with God and his godly parents, did form a firm foundation for Luke. Peer groups for him helped him to build on that solid foundation. “I’ve learnt to be assertive and get along with my friends, thanks to my peer groups,” said Luke, fondly thinking about his past years at college.
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The word peer pressure, makes us think mostly of its negative consequences. In the culture where I belong, if youngsters stray and land up in difficulties, the parents often blame the ‘bad company’ or peer pressure. But as we see in the case of Luke, peer pressure can be positive too. It can be a formative experience in life. All that matters is the choice you make! If your choice is right, peer pressure can make you a better individual!
Provided youngsters have a caring and concerned environment at home, they can make the right choices about the peer groups, and excel in life like Luke. As he was freely able to share his doubts and questions at home with his parents, Luke could make right choices.
My prayer is that the Lord will enable all the young people of today to be like Luke, using the peer pressure to groom themselves into positive persons!
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© 2004: Dr.M.A.David S Kumar