How to Stand Up For Your Principles.

Hello everyone! My name is CeCe Gauger, and I will be starting a new column on my mom's blog, School Days. First thing's first, I think that I should tell you a bit about me before we continue. I am 13, I love crafting, baking, cooking, reading, and organizing. In this column, I'll be posting things on many different subjects, including things on the subjects listed above, as well as a few other things. Today, I will be teaching you  how to stand up for your principles.

 Being homeschoolers, my sister and I take some classes with a few homeschool groups. One class that we currently take has about 8 people in our class, and some of them aren't the nicest people. This past week, me and my sister were doing our own thing, and we were chatting with another girl while we worked. The subject came around to music, so my sister was telling this girl about a song that she liked, but that it had a suggestive part that she wasn't wild about. Then she was talking about another song that she liked, so this girl offered to pull it up on Spotify. Now, we are not allowed to go on Spotify, because there is always the possibility that a nasty, explicit song will crop up, even if we change the settings. This girl accepted that, and didn't challenge our answer. As it turns out, another girl was listening to our conversation. "You don't go on Spotify?! But there's so much good music on there! So many good songs!", this girl said. " I'm not allowed on Spotify, actually", I told her. " Why not?", she asked. " Because there's always a chance that a nasty song will come up", I answered.  "But you can always change th-", Look, we're not allowed on Spotify. I accept that. That's that."

 Some people won't accept your principles, but that's okay! Not everyone is a nice person, and not everyone will be nice to you. But the most important thing to remember when someone is pressuring you to do something you know to be wrong, is to remember your PRINCIPLES!! I have had many experiences when I have had to make a simple choice; right or wrong. Some of these times I haven't made the right choice, and afterwards, I felt bad. It's important that you call on the Lord when you feel tempted, because He'll help you make the right choice. But it's also about sticking to your Mom and Dad's rule's, and respecting their decisions, because their rules are there to protect you. Remember, they've been where you are now. They've been a kid before, and they might have made the mistakes that they're trying to protect you from.

 The next thing to do is to repent if you've made the wrong choice. First, you need to pray to God, and ask Him to forgive you. The next thing you need to is tell your parents what you've done, and ask for their forgiveness. They'll appreciate that you've told the truth, but know that you have broken the rules, and that there still may be consequences. I know that there have been many times when I have broken rules, and they have shown me grace. I have a very sensitive conscience, and can't stand it when I have a secret, so I tell my mom whenever I've broken a rule.

The final thing to remember: learn from your mistakes. When you make a mistake and tell your parents, you shouldn't just do the same thing all over again! When trust is broken, it can take a while to earn it back again.


Thanks for reading this passage!

CeCe❤