Bible Reading: Psalm 139:15-18
How precious are your thoughts about me, 0 God! They are innumerable! Psalm 139:17
Of all the people you know, Alex oozes cool. He never wears the same thing twice. And his clothes always look like they came straight off a dummy in the most popular store in the mall. He has the hippest shoes, hippest shirts, and hippest watch-not to mention the coolest bike, snowboard, cell phone, and MP3 player.
One day you figure out how Alex got so hip. “I didn’t get cool by accident,” he says, waving toward a basement wall covered with computers and jumbo-sized monitors. “This is how I find out exactly what’s hot and what’s not.
“I study ads in the world’s coolest magazines,” he brags. “I get information from three major TV channels and half a dozen cable stations. I feed all the data in here. And over here I get the coolness quotient of anything and everything.” Suddenly a computer beeps. “See? It says I need to switch toothpaste. And use a different dental floss. I’ve gotta keep up with the coolest brands.”
Alex’s mom appears with cheeseburger Tasty Meals for your lunch. “The stock for McDaisy’s is up today,” Alex says. “Had you noticed?”
“And there’s more,” Alex gushes. “My current project is tracking the most popular college to go to and the hottest car and job to get when I graduate. It’s several years away, but you can never be too cool.”
It’s tough to get dressed these days without the advice of TV, magazines, movies, and commercials. From your friends to your enemies, everyone wants to tell you what’s hot and what’s not. So talk about this: Is it wrong to try to look the way everyone else says we should?
Trying to be trendy isn’t such a big deal if you’re aiming to keep up with easy-to-swap styles. If one day you break into a sweat because you just noticed your clothes or hairstyle went out three years ago, it’s okay to change. But being cool at any cost takes huge money. And loads of kids do wrong things just to fit in.
The Bible gives you the biggest reason not to make being cool the most important part in your life: You are already the product of God’s perfect design. God was your master artist when you were put together in your mother’s womb. He watched it all happen to make sure you turned out just right. And he still thinks you’re just right. You are his masterpiece!
TALK: How much do you try to keep up with trends? When does that get in the way of appreciating the way God made you?
PRAY: God, thanks for making us unique—your special creations.
ACT: Celebrate your uniqueness by picking a hot fashion trend you’re not going to follow.
