"I Do Whatever My Friends Want To Do"

For many youths, clothing is a statement of their independence and individuality. But as a youth, your personality is still in a state of flux-still developing, still changing. So while you want to make a statement concerning yourself, you may not be too sure what that statement should say or how to say it. Some youths thus adorn themselves in bizarre, outrageous attire. Instead of establishing their "individuality," however, they are not merely calling attention to their immaturity-not to mention embarrassing their parents.
Other youths simply choose to dress like their peers: it seems to give them a sense of security and identity with a group. Of course, it's not necessarily wrong to want to blend in with people. But would a Christian really want to be identified with unbelieving youths? And is it wise to seek peer approval at an cost? One young girl confessed: "I do whatever my friends want to do just so they don't say something." But what do you call someone who is at the beck and call of someone else, who gives in to someone else's whim and fancy? The Bible answers: "Do you not know that if you keep presenting yourselves to anyone....to obey him, you are slaves of him because you obey him?"
Among young people "The emphasis on compliance can become so strong that group members almost seem to be prisoners of group norms, depending on them (their peers) for advice on how to dress, how to talk, what to do, and even what to think and believe."
But how qualified are your friends to give such advice? Are they not suffering the same emotional growing pains that you are? Is it wise, then, meekly to let them set your standards-even when such go against your common sense or the values and the wishes of your parents?