Rise Above

Daniel 1:8; Daniel 9:1–22

Daniel was faced with a dilemma: God’s standards or the culture’s.

He was living in Babylon, surrounded by people who did not worship his God and immersed in a culture whose values were contrary to what he had been taught. Yet Daniel made a decision early on that the culture around him would not determine the character within him.

Daniel 1:8 says that Daniel “purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.”

That word purposed is important.

Daniel didn't wait until temptation came to decide what he believed. He had already settled it in his heart.

God’s standards mattered more.

And that same conviction followed Daniel throughout his life. By the time we get to Daniel 9, we see a man who was still seeking God, still studying His Word, still praying, still confessing, and still refusing to allow the culture surrounding him to change his devotion to God.

Daniel teaches us how to rise above.

Rise above what everybody else is doing.

Rise above what everybody else says is normal.

Rise above the pressure to compromise.

Rise above the desire to fit in.

Rise above a culture that constantly tells us God's standards are outdated, unrealistic, or unnecessary.

Culture will tell you that sex before marriage is normal. It will tell you that waiting is unnecessary. It may even make you feel strange, undesirable, overly committed, or unrealistic for choosing God's standard.

But just because something has become culturally acceptable does not mean it has become spiritually acceptable.

Culture changing does not change God.

Daniel lived in Babylon without allowing Babylon to live in him.

That is the challenge for us too.

We don't have to isolate ourselves from the world, but we cannot allow the world to determine our convictions.

Daniel was not only pure; he was prayerful.

Daniel 9 shows us where his strength came from. When Daniel needed understanding, direction, mercy, and help, he turned toward God.

That matters because you cannot consistently resist cultural pressure through willpower alone.

You need prayer.

You need the Word.

You need conviction.

You need a relationship with God that matters more to you than acceptance from people.

Abstinence is bigger than simply saying, “I'm not having sex.”

It is saying:

I have decided that God's standard will be my standard, even when the culture chooses something different.

There will always be a Babylon.

There will always be pressure to compromise.

There will always be something telling you that obedience is unnecessary.

But there can also always be a Daniel—a man or woman who has purposed in their heart to honor God anyway.

You don't have to descend to the culture's standard just because you're surrounded by it.

Rise above.

Be pure.

Be prayerful.

And purpose in your heart that no matter what the culture does, you will honor God.