Are you for real?

“This is all so confusing for me’ said Tito, ‘what do I do now? This course I failed in 100 level, just because of a Lecturer’s carelessness in marking my script, is going to make me graduate with a 2.2 rather than a 2.1. This is really unfair, and I am feeling so cheated!” “Oh, Tito stop!” snapped Chioma, “what is all this moaning about? I have advised you on what to do but you are too much of a chicken than to do it, so just stop complaining!” “What advice Chioma? To bribe people in the computer room to get my marks changed? No way! I can’t do that; my conscience will not allow me; you and I know it is wrong. I may get away with it now, but it may come back to haunt me later”. “That is if you are caught, but the chances are slim, those people are very discreet you know” responded Chioma. “Besides, I don’t see what is wrong about it, after all you were not supposed to have failed the course in the first place! So you are just taking back your right.” “No Chioma, I will rather God fights for me than defend myself, and if He doesn’t, so be it!”

Every passing day, as a young boy or girl, man or lady, you are faced with the challenge of deciding whether to take a stand for what is right or bend over ‘a little bit’. You are pressured on every side; by friends, school mates, work mates and sometimes, even ‘church’ mates, to shift ground, spice it up a little bit or compromise.

The conversation between Chioma and Tito brings to mind the experience of three young teenagers taken captive from their homeland and taken to another country. The king of their new country then made a statue and commanded everyone to bow down to it once a signal was given. To these teens, this was a strange practice that conflicted with the way they were brought up; they were not to bow dawn to any other being except God. However in this circumstance, it was a dilemma for them; they could choose to bow and avoid the wrath of the king, after all, they were not at home and nobody will know what they did except the three of them (and God); but they would have dishonoured God. On the other hand, they could refuse to bow and defend what they believe in their hearts to be right but risk being thrown in a hot oven and losing their lives as threatened by the King. It was a tough decision, but they chose not to bow damning the consequences! Amazing!

A popular celebrity once said 'Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not'.
The quality of being honest, consistently adhering to strict moral or ethical principles is called INTEGRITY. It is a state of being whole and undivided requiring a lifelong commitment to doing what is right even at the expense of convenience and immediate pleasure. It is about consistency between your words and your actions even when no one seems to be watching. It is developed over time through an internal resolve; like Daniel who ‘purposed’ in his heart not to defile himself. It is refusing to ‘bow’ even in the face of unpalatable consequences.

In my long interactions with young people, I have come to realize that many of the things they do are not what they really want to do. Left on their own, many teenagers and youths will do the right thing their consciences bid them do; however, in the face of negative peer pressure, the need to ‘belong’ and not be left out, the fear of being looked down upon etc. make them choose the wrong over the right. This is a challenge to you reading this article, are you for real?

As a Christian teen or youth, when you are faced with the temptation of taking something that does not belong to you when no one is watching, cheating during exams, engaging in sex outside marriage, visiting those pornographic sites when you are alone in your room with your phone or telling a lie to cover up your wrong-doing, the question is what do you do? Do you ‘bow’ or stand up for the right thing?

The truth is that every time we succumb to temptations, we betray God’s love for us and it is like stabbing Him in the heart. The devil rejoices for that but God is grieved and the Holy Spirit is hurt. The devil is happy because he knows that you will bear the consequence of your actions which is most of the time grievous. The devil is a two-timer; he lures you into sin and waits for you thereafter to mock you when you fall. Make up your mind not to give in to his tempting words when they come because the wages of sin is death. It is a true saying that those who ‘bow’ will burn! God, however does not want you to live a life of regrets.

I have come to know that those who choose to maintain their stand in the face of oppositions and threats come out victorious in the end. When you choose to fail rather than cheat; or carry over a course rather than give your body to a lecturer; or remain jobless rather than buy appointment letter, God always comes through for you in the end. Those three teenagers who refused to bow to the King’s statue were thrown into the hot fiery oven but the fire did not do them any harm, in fact, God was with them in the fire and the King saw this and was amazed. God vindicated them because they chose to honour Him in a strange land.

Are you in a boarding school, university, or NYSC camp? This could be likened to a strange land where your parents are not with you and maybe you close friends are now far away and nobody knows you. Temptations will come, the statues of the land will demand for your worship….the devil is waiting and God is watching. What will be your response? Will you bow? Or will you show God that you are for real? The choice is yours, don’t disappoint God.