School is Tough

School has just started and I’m about to enter high school. I am a girl torn between wanting to be popular and a desire to keep high moral standards. I’m in public school which is very hard as a Christian. My friends are good people, but they don’t have the same standards I have. I find myself being pulled directions I don’t want to take, but it’s awful to be a wallflower every day. I’m scared of what might happen.

Dear Pulled,

School is tough and it is more so now than it has ever been. You have said you WANT to keep high moral standards which is the first important step towards that goal. You have to keep that decision in front of you! Every morning before you leave for school, take time to read your Bible and pray. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. Taking a stand on morality and not allowing others to pull you down shows great strength. Others will see that strength in you and it will help them also to stand against peer pressure.

Can you do this on your own? NO! A child of God always has the Lord’s help if they want it. Call on the promises found in the Bible: “Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!” (Psalm 38:22) Process in your mind what popularity is and who you want to be popular with. You can do that by thinking about what you want to do with your life and knowing you have a God who has great plans for you. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

What kind of friend are you? Are you a friend who wants others to do what you say and think or do you want others to be the best they can be? How you answer that is the kind of friend you should want around you and the people you want to be popular with! Think of morality and immorality and what each means for you. Choose to be a person of integrity and keep yourself pure for your husband. What greater gift could you give him?!

You will become who you run with so think about whom you want to be popular with and why. Ask the Holy Spirit what “being popular” really means. In the Kingdom of God the person who has high moral standard is very popular and highly favored!

Keep reading your word and praying! Stay close to the Lord and He will bring you fullness of joy as you maintain high moral standards. Remember too, high school might seem like forever right now, but it is a short time compared to the years you will likely live. Don’t mess up the rest of your life by your desire to be popular now! As a child of God, you are in the world but not of the world. God will send you the right friends and help when you ask.

Recent Dear Judy Posts

Joy wall decoration

Being happy versus having joy?

By Dr. Judy Baus • April 7, 2025
What is the difference between being happy and having joy? Aren’t they the same?
4 people looking at starry night sky

What does it mean to have faith?

By Dr. Judy Baus • March 10, 2025
March 2025 Dear Judy What does it mean to have faith?
Let go, let God.

Can you explain what "saved is"?

By Dr. Judy Baus • February 2, 2025
February 2025 Dear Judy, I hear the word “saved” a lot. Can you explain what “saved” is? And how do you get it? --Anonymous
the cross painted on a wall

I think I'm saved...

By Dr. Judy Baus • January 8, 2025
Well, let me start with the most important thing you bring up. I noticed the word I THINK in your question. Just because you go to church does not mean you are a born-again believer.
Show More

Recent Food For Thought Articles

Woman covering her eyes

So many horrible things

By Dr. Judy Baus • April 7, 2025
Everywhere we look, so many people are going through horrible things. Every time I take a hot shower, the Lord brings to my mind how many people have no water at all! Bad weather and fires have destroyed so many lives. People without the Lord have no hope. But those who have received Jesus as their personal Savior and are trusting HIM and His Promises found in their manual for success (the Bible) – they have hope!
Wilderness landscape

Wilderness

By Dr. Judy Baus • March 10, 2025
Have you ever thought about the word “wilderness” and what that means for the Christian and the non-Christian? To be a Christian we must believe—which is to trust and have confidence that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose again! Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Hills on fire

Stay Watchful

By Dr. Judy Baus • February 2, 2025
STAY WATCHFUL! I am sure we can all agree, 2025 started off with much tragedy and woe! Terrorist attacks killing many, devastating fires in the LA area, a horrible plane and helicopter collision, and another plane crash two days later! Many families in mourning. Truly, the devil is out to steal, kill, and destroy, and sadly, he’s doing a good job at it. But remember, our Lord is far greater than the devil, and He is ultimately in control.
JESUS on the cross

Life with God after salvation!

By Dr. Judy Baus • January 8, 2025
Christianity 101—Life with God after Salvation We are living in very tough times that are only getting harder. As followers of Jesus, we should be strong in the Lord and full of faith, experiencing the God of the impossible. But are we? Jesus said in Matthew 19:26, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” I believe Jesus is looking at us and our fellowships and asking if we truly believe this. Are we living this Scripture out to a watching world?
Show More