Daniel Chapter 1. I'd rather not eat your food.
Quick overview. Babylon captures Jerusalem. King Of Banylon has young men from Jerusalem's Royal and noble families brought to Babylon where they are to be heavily trained for 3 years, eat the foods of the king, and then one day serve with the King.
Four of the young men, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and a Abendnego, said to the chief that they did not want to eat the king's choice foods and wine but instead wanted to be fed vegetables and water so as to not defile themselves with unclean food.
God made it so they found favor with the chief. The chief was scared to switch the foods for fear he would lose his life from the King but noticed these four young men looked healthier after 10 days of vegetables and water than all the other young men who ate the Kings choice foods.
After 3 years of training, they went before the king who questioned them greatly and found that the knowledge of these four young men was 10 times more than any others. He chose those four to serve in his palace.
What's interesting, these four young men did not want to hurt their relationship with the Lord by defiling their bodies with unclean food from the King.
What's even more interesting is that the chief Babylonian liked Daniel and the three others.
In other words, Daniel and his buddies were not jerks about their faith. They obviously respected their authorities even though their faith was different. So when it came time for them to want to stand up for their faith, they were respected back.
Do we have respect for others including those above us. Even respect for those whose views on life are different than ours. It could be your boss or the president of the United States or your parents.
I mean, many Christians want to stand up for their faith but sometimes I think they are jerks about it because there's no respect. It's almost done in arrogance or pride rather than in humility. Yes, we need to stand up for our faith but you can do it with arrogance or with humility. If your character is one of respect and humility then I feel people will be more apt to respect you if you oppose their views.
Obviously that won't always be the case because we will be persecuted even if we are lovingly and respectfully standing up for our faith in Christ. But regardless of how we are treated back from others, I feel we need to live out our faith with respect and humility and love. If we do that, then I believe we could also share some testimonies of those who opposed us but also respected us.
CHALLENGE:
1) Pray God would help you humbly show love and respect to your authorities.
2) Pray God would help you not compromise your faith by giving into peer pressure. Let what you say and what you do be an example of Christ rather than blending in with non-believers.
Over a period of time see what testimonies you could share.