Published by A Christian View of Peer Pressure
What is peer pressure? The average person would respond, peer pressure is the act of pressuring an individual to do something they don’t want to do. The term peer pressure actually means, “pressure by a peer group that inflicts social pressure on somebody to adopt a behavior, dress, or attitude in order to be accepted as part of the group” (“MSN Encarta Peer Pressure,” def. 1). I can remember when I was growing up as a teenager, some of my friends tried to convince me to do something I knew was wrong. Today my friends would be considered a peer group. MSN Encarta defines a peer group as “a social group consisting of people who are equal in such respects as age, education, or social class” (“Peer Group,” def. 1). I was raised in a Christian home and my mom and dad didn’t want me to associate with bad crowds. They didn’t call it peer pressure back then, my parents only told me they were bad crowds and I should stay away from them. Peer Pressure is very prevalent among teenagers today, and many struggle with it because of the peer groups.
From a Christian point of view I don’t think you can force anyone to do something they don’t want to, unless they were being threatened with bodily harm. I believe evil sprits that come from Satan can influence people to do bad things they wouldn’t normally do. There are some people who would disagree with this, including some Christians. Have people really stopped and considered that peer pressure could be an evil spirit living on the inside of them, and this could be what influences them to do bad things. Spirits are real and they inhabit the souls of people, and they can influence them to do good or bad things. When we were born we already had a sinful spirit living on the inside of us, and that spirit can influence us to do evil. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me (Psalms 51: 5). It’s not the human side of a person that decides to use peer pressure, it’s the evil spirit living on the inside of them, and they allow this spirit to influence them. When a person decides to do something bad, where do you think they get their ideas from?
Most teenagers try to blame someone else for their mistakes, but what they need to understand they are actually committing the mistake themselves, and not the person they are blaming. I believe if a person is easily persuaded by someone else to do something they believe is wrong, they were already thinking about doing it. Let’s say a person name Frank is trying to convince his friend Bob to do drugs, and Bob listens to him and starts taking them. Who do you think Bob and everyone else will blame because he start taking drugs? They would blame Frank, but Frank really had nothing to do with Bob’s decision. The evil spirit that influenced Frank to talk to Bob about doing drugs is the same spirit that influenced Bob to start taking them. Both Frank and Bob are innocent in this case, because they were both influenced by an evil spirit of Satan.
Peer pressure only exists in the minds of those who do not want to take responsibility for their own mistakes. These types of people blame others instead of themselves. The person that they blame is innocent, because they are being influenced by an evil spirit. Most of society would disagree with this; they believe that you can be influenced by a person or a group, to do something that you really don’t want to do. From a Christian point of view, I believe peer pressure is an evil spirit from Satan that can influence anyone to do evil if they allow it. Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4: 7). We all can overcome any pressure, that tries to get us to do wrong with the help of God.
