Little Red Book Ministry

a. With friends
Many times after a person has been saved, his (or her) friends will stop being as friendly. It may be time to make new friends. Really good friendships will last. However, these friends can be a problem if they are constantly urging you to do things you know you should not do. You need to be very careful in these relationships and commit the situation to the Lord in earnest prayer.

James 4:4; 1 John 2:15–17

b. Shopping, driving, etc.
These are the type of situations where many tend to let down their guard and be more like the world. You never know when your actions will be observed and something you may do in anger or frustration may cause someone to turn away from the Lord.

c. On vacation
Sometimes when we are far from home, we may feel a special temptation to indulge in some of the worldly pleasures we had renounced when we were saved. The devil knows how to twist every situation to our disadvantage. It is important to remember then why we gave these things up. We did it to please our God, not to win the favor of our new peer group. We must be careful to make pleasing God our only motive for the way we behave.

Romans 6:12–14

d. At parties
Parties present a very special problem in maintaining a strong testimony. The whole idea of a party is to have fun. To many people this means “letting your hair down” and doing things you would not normally do. Even Christians sometimes get caught up in this spirit and behave poorly at parties where mostly Christians have come together. It is a good idea to leave the party early when you feel that behavior is becoming inappropriate. Normally, it is a good idea not to accept an invitation to a worldly party that doesn’t have some kind of a theme or reason. For instance, Tupperware or birthday parties are often quite harmless whereas attending a party just for the sake of having fun will likely be a spiritual disaster.

Galatians 5:19–21; 1 Peter 4:1–4