Don’t Be Different AloneSample

Don’t be different alone. 

We’re a lot braver when we’re with our friends. Think about it. When’s the last time you took a risk? Most of the time, we take risks when we’re with other people—especially our closest friends. So, if we’re going to be different, we’re going to need to be different together. In other words, don’t be different alone. 

Jesus knew this too. Jesus was different, but He wasn’t different alone. He had people around Him. He called them the 12 disciples. These guys did everything together. They supported each other, prayed for each other, and lived life together. 

In fact, some of the best stories from the Bible talk about people who were different together. In today’s Scripture, we’ll see this firsthand through one of the most epic stories in the Bible. It’s about these three teenagers named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were taken from their homes and exiled to another country 900 miles away called Babylon. Freaky, right? It gets worse. They had to change everything! They had to eat different food, speak a different language, and plot twist: their names were changed! Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego weren’t even their original names. 

So anyway, these three guys get taken to a foreign land, and their new king forces everyone to bow down to this big, gold statue he thought was a god. The three guys refused. Today, we’ll read about what happened when these three teenagers chose to be different together. And spoiler alert: it changed an entire country. 

Imagine what can happen if all of us Jesus followers chose to be different together. We just might change our schools, our communities, and our country, too. 

Challenge: Find a group of people, maybe your small group, who you can be different with.