Peer Pressure
Genesis 3:1–6 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Scripture records the entry of sin into the world in just six verses. One tiny act by Eve, eating the fruit they were told not to eat, brought death into this world. They had been warned not to do so
Genesis 2:15–17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
She repeated that warning to the serpent, but the Devil was cunning and made it seem like a good thing to do. “Don’t worry…you won’t die.” So she ate it. Then she gave some to Adam, who was right there with her, and he ate it. That sin would be passed on to all their descendants
Some try to lay all the guilt at the feet of Eve. We are told that she was deceived by Satan (2 Corinthians 11:3), but she would still be held accountable for her sin. I wonder what was going on in Adam’s mind while all this was going on, since we are told he was there with her. Was he not paying attention? Did he tell her not to do it but she did it anyway? Why did he eat it so readily? Was he afraid of missing out, that she would have something he didn’t have? We do not know what he was thinking, but we do know he readily joined her in her sin.
How many times has peer pressure made you do something you knew you should not do? You are with your friends who convince you to go along with the crowd. It is a powerful influence. Even when you know better, even when you have promised you would never do that, you let yourself be convinced to do something you know is outside of God’s plan for your life. And once you have done it, Satan uses it against you for the rest of your life, reminding you that you are fallen and sinful.
Because death entered this world, Jesus chose to enter the world, too. He would die the death that the sin of Eve and Adam and all of us deserved. He could do that because He lived without sin. And God accepted His payment on our behalf. Our faith in Jesus grabs hold of what He earned. And then He defeated death for us by rising on the third day. We are in the season that reminds us to celebrate His Resurrection, but we do well to celebrate it every day.
Remembering the victory Jesus earned for you will help you resist temptations, including peer pressure.
