FAITHFULNESS - Champions by the Fruit of the SpiritUkážka

Faithfulness vs Disloyalty

Bible story: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego Daniel 3:1-21

Theme Verse: Psalm 86:11

Our match fight this week is faithfulness against disloyalty. It is very important to God that we are loyal to Him, and it is a huge part of being a faithful Christian. Loyalty has a lot to do with trust as well. When we are loyal to friends at school, it means they can trust us to keep their secrets, stand up for them, and always be on their side, whether they are present or not.

The difficulty comes when we face peer-pressure. We feel peer-pressure when others push on us to change our attitudes, values or behaviors to conform to the group. It can be very difficult to stand firm in our loyalty to God when we are facing incredible peer-pressure from others at school or in the neighborhood. They may want us to be unkind to someone else, or they may want us to say we believe in other gods when we do not.

Loyalty to God means that He can trust us, regardless of the pressure around us. It means that we are for God no matter what. When we are loyal, nothing people say will make us deny Jesus Christ or God at school, play, or in the neighborhood.

In today’s Bible story, we see Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego face incredible peer pressure to bow to a golden image the king had set up. The announcement was made that anyone who did not bow down would be thrown into a furnace of fire! They must have felt incredible pressure from everyone around them. But they chose not to give in to the pressure, even though it meant sure death. Regardless of the amount of warnings they received and threats on their lives, they chose to remain faithful to God.

They refused to bow down. The king became very furious and threw them into the furnace! The furnace was so hot that it killed the men who threw Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace. The king was amazed at what he saw because, although he had thrown in only three men, he could now see four men walking around alive inside the furnace!!! The king ordered them to come out, and when they did, there was no smell of fire on them. Seeing this, the king praised their God, who had protected them from the fire!

In some countries, even today, people face death when they publicly profess to be a Christian. But for those who live in countries with more religious freedom, it can still be difficult to publicly profess to be a Christian when there is intense peer pressure. If we are to win this battle against disloyalty, we must be willing to be faithful to God and our Lord Jesus Christ, regardless of the cost.

Questions:

1. Have you ever told a friend’s personal secret to others? What happened?

2. What peer pressure exists to hide that you are a Christian where you live?

3. If a friend is absent, can we be disloyal since they are not there?

Life Application:

Find a time this week to openly admit at school or in the community that you are a Christian and that you believe in Jesus Christ. Afterward, rejoice that you were loyal despite any peer pressure you faced.