Overcoming Cultural Pressures: Living for Christ
“You have to go before the church and apologize”.
I was a scared, a 22 year-old single mom of a newborn, when older ladies of my church suggested I needed to apologize for having a baby outside of marriage.
I was stunned.
I already felt like a failure – a disappointment. I was once the girl voted most likely to succeed, in the top of my class, and now I was back home with a baby. The side-eyes and whispers of those in my hometown made me feel that I was unworthy, and now, those who I fellowshipped with each week made me feel that I was beyond repair.
The unwelcoming culture of my hometown and the somewhat legalistic culture of my home church almost made me unable to see that for the believer there is a culture that supersedes all others.
In the Kingdom of God, there is forgiveness for sin and redemption from it. We can have a fresh start.
The bible tells us how we can overcome the cultures of this world in Romans 12:2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
We have to allow God’s Word to change us, even when it is uncomfortable to do so. We may have to challenge the culture we live in, even when that impacts the church.
I never stood before the congregation to apologize. Instead, I shared with those beautiful older ladies what I believed – that God had forgiven and redeemed me just like He would anyone else who sinned. Surprisingly, they received what I had to say and we moved forward.
That’s the mission that we have been entrusted with; telling others of this Kingdom that overcomes the cultures of the world.
Whether writing or speaking, we have been tasked with telling our freedom stories so that others will want a relationship with the One who set us free.
Reflection:
How is God leading you to share your story of overcoming cultural pressures to help others?
For more encouragement check out our YouVersion Devotionals.
Debra Cheek is a wife and the mother of seven children. She is very passionate about family which is most often seen in her love for marriage. This desire to see God’s people restore marriage to a place of honor has been channeled and grown through writing and speaking. In March of 2017, she founded Believing Wives, a ministry designed to teach and train wives to fulfill God’s original plan for their lives and in so doing change their homes, communities, and the world. She truly believes that changed wives change lives.
