Katagelophobia submerges.

2 Tim. 3:12 "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."

It seems like everywhere I turn nowadays I'm being hounded about something. Whether it be my standards and convictions, my way of thinking, who I'm close to, or my opinions. The devil has been working overtime lately to try to get me off track. Usually, I would give in to what he was trying to do when it came to ridicule and persecution. I would be so worried about what everyone else thought about me and what everyone else was doing that I would drop my standards and convictions to go along with the crowd, whether they be right or wrong. Lately I've gotten sick of it. It's not biblical at all for me to give in to that stuff, so I've determined in my heart to stick with the stuff no matter what people may say. Even people whom I love dearly have said some things that made me just want to drop the ball and give up. I'm the one who will have to suffer if I decide to cave in. I'm trying to keep my eyes focused on one thing right now and the devil keeps bringing one thing after another to me to get me distracted and take a wrong turn. A friend of mine recently told me that she was out trying to clear her head after something happened that upset her. She said that she just stopped and literally told the devil to back off and told him that he's not going to get the victory. She basically said that she knew what he was up to and that she wasn't going to fall for his devices. That's what we should say to Satan. Of course, he'll always keep trying to destroy us, but if we determine in our heart that we aren't going to let him get the victory in our lives then we will have more will power to keep living for God and not give in to the devil.

Peer pressure is tough. As a teenager, it's one of the biggest struggles. It's our nature to want to be accepted by everyone and to fit in with the crowd, but we have to come to a point where we're willing to stand up and say that wrong is wrong. It's HARD, but someone has to do it. The world is at a point where in general it says, "Oh, this is okay. It's 2007 and this stuff isn't really that bad." Yes, times have changed, but GOD'S WORD HASN'T! People try to justify their sin by using the excuse of the times changing. Just because the world has changed and is doing "what is right in their own eyes" doesn't mean that we as God's children should change. God's Word is eternal and it is, like Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.

I said all of that to say this... Say what you want about me. I could care less if you're on my side or not as long as I know that God is on my side. I've grown a backbone these past few months and I'm no longer scared to stand up for right and be strong.

Have a nice day.

-Smashlee