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From time to time, everyone is pressured to fit with their peers. Unfortunately, sometimes you will feel pressured to make decisions contrary to what God wishes you would. Some teens for example feel pressured to used fowl language, drink alcohol, have sex before marriage, take part in cult like activities, deny their faith in Christ, follow the crowd, pretentious, take part in examination malpractice, bully among other social ills. It is common to see or hear teenagers or other youths cajole or used such expressions as follows: "Come on! Let me look at your answers to the test".

"It'll be cool to go along with them"
It's not a cult it's just a way to have fun!
"It's only "R" rates, everybody is going! "
"Drinking is no big deal, who is not doing it!?"
"The girls will go wild over their dress"

Like the blacksmith's hammer, the world pounds away at you in an attempt to form you into someone he think you should be. Unfortunately so many of the formation blows comes from the very people closest to you-other teens. But the good news is that unless the iron is hot, even the blacksmiths can't change it's shape. Like that iron, when you decide to remain cool in the heat all around you and not allow others to mould you into something they wants you to be, then you have taken the first step in becoming the person God wants you to be.

God gave every person the freedom to make choices (Sirach 15 : 11 - 20) he also reminds us that if we exercise our freewill to chose him, he will respond otherwise we risk seperating ourself from God in sin. Free will, we must remember means-it is your decision. Freewill is one of the important capacity that defines our relationship with God.

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Jesus challengss you to have the faith to follow him and put pressure on the world instead instead Jesus as man faces many pressuress from his peers. Most of the world mocks his message of salvation, the same message that change the world. No pressure from others sbould ever be strong enough to make bad decisions if we put our fath in, abd obey God.

Saint Alloysius Gonzaga was decleard the petron saint of teens by Pope Pius the X1 in 1726 Alloysius farther wanted him to enter the military but he dissapointed his parents when he announce that he wants to become a Jesuit Priest instead of inheriting his farther's tittle and estate. In his youthful age, he had quite a few friends among the soldiers around his farther's castle. Many of whom envourage Alloysius to join them for thier parties. They wanted him to behave as they were behaving but Alloysius did not give in to the pressure, even though he was teased and taunted by many of his friends, for his faithfulness to God.

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St. Allloysius serves as a wonderful model fkr teenagers/youths. He was filled with the live for God, sorrow for his sins, and a desire for purity of mind, body and heart. Some guiding principles to peer pressure are encased in thw Holy write as listed below.

James 3 : 5 - 10
Ephisians 4: 29
Galatians 5: 19- 21
1st Thesalonians 4: 3- 7
Deuteronomy 18: 10- 14
Mathew 26: 69- 75
Proverbs 1: 10- 12, 15-16
Exedos 23:2

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