I Kings 12:8, 9, 13, 14 "But he forsook the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that were grown up with him, and which stood before him: And he said unto them, What counsel give ye that we may answer this people, who have spoken to me, saying, Make the yoke which thy father did put upon us lighter? And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him; And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions."

1 Chronicles 10:13 "So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;"

If you take a group of children and put them in a class that is labeled as having lower reading skills, they will eventually come to believe that they cannot read as well as other children their age even if their reading skills are actually above average. We tend to believe what others think about us and most of the time we act on those beliefs. As I said in the last devotion, I had someone in my life once who continually ridiculed me about something. Nothing I ever did was right. I never looked just right. My hair was wrong. My clothes weren't just right, either they weren't ironed to suit this person or the hem wasn't right or there was a thread or piece of lint or something for them to be picking at all the time. I always either needed to lose weight or gain weight, I was never the right weight. I always looked pale or sick and needed to get more rest. My house never pleased this person, it always needed cleaning, or straightening up. The yard needed mowing or weeding or something. Nothing was ever just ok. When this person died I almost felt a sense of relief and then I felt guilty for feeling relieved. Do you have someone like that in your life. Have you been trying to live your life to someone else's standard? You really can't you know. If you try, you are not living your life. You are only going through the motions. When you try to live your life to please someone other than God, you are giving that person control over you. If you are an adult, not living under the supervision of an adult parent, living your life under the dictates of another person or other people will eventually lead to resentment and dissatisfaction.

The world sets all kinds of false standards for us to adhere to today. From the time we are old enough to watch and understand television we are bombarded with programs and advertisements telling us how we should look, what we should wear and what kind of toys we should have. Little girls play with Barbie Dolls and grow up believing they have to have a perfect figure, perfect hair and be as beautiful as the dolls they played with. Little boys play with super heroes and grow up believing they are not real men if they don’t have strong muscles and know how to fight. Young girls idolize Hollywood stars and want to be exactly like them; when they can’t loose weight, they become anorexic or bulimic. Many young people today cannot cope with the pressures put on them to conform to the world and succumb to drugs. By the time they have fallen into the trap Satan has laid for them, it is too late. Many of them never recover. Likewise, adults who do not have a firm image of who they are in Christ are easily swayed by fashion dictates and friends comments. Read the story of Tiger and The Three Pigs below.