Read 2 Corinthians 7:1

I need to be very candid with you. If you are a "Sunday Christian," you will not stand alone when outnumbered. Apart from a personal and vital faith in Jesus Christ, it is impossible to wage a winning effort against the system called "the world."

Trying to overcome the powerful magnet of the majority without help from above would be a frustrating and counterproductive effort. Only God can give us such transforming power through our faith in His Son.

As far as God is concerned, a consistent godly life is well-pleasing, acceptable to Him. As far as you are concerned, it is an act of worship. It is a "spiritual service of worship."

We are like tiny islands of truth surrounded by a sea of paganism, but we launch our ship every day. We can't live or do business in this world without rubbing shoulders with those driven by the world's desires. God calls very few to be monks in a monastery. So we must make a practical decision not to be conformed while we are in the system, and at the same time, we must make a radical decision to give God the green light to transform our minds.

At the deepest level, even though the majority may not want to admit it, most people are conformists. That is why it is correctly termed a radical decision. Only a radically different mindset can equip folks like us to stand alone when we're outnumbered.

It takes courage to think alone, to resist alone, to stand alone—especially when the crowd seems so safe, so right. But remember God. Keep flying high like an eagle—far above the glue that snares the crowd. Up there it doesn't just seem safe and right, it is safe and right.

Excerpted from Dear Graduate: Letters of Wisdom from Charles R. Swindoll, Copyright 2007 by Charles R. Swindoll Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.