Deuteronomy 1:17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’

Agreeing with someone just because they sound good or because you don’t want to sound stupid is just not right!

If we do not open our eyes to the truth then we are failing ourselves and burying everything that is good in the sand.

It’s easy for me to stand here and say “don’t be afraid of other people” when I am not in your situation; but when you find out how much more God can do, you will agree.

Exodus 23:2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.

Following the crowd always seems to be the easy option, but when you find out that you all get into trouble anyway, you wonder why!

The options are quite simple really – to do good or to do evil. We like to describe all manner of levels of good and evil but the fact remains, it is good or evil!

Whether it starts with a bit of gossip or joining in to get someone else into trouble just because, the other road is not all it is advertised to be.

God wants us to recognise our failings and to turn away from them. Yes we do need His help. But we can do it!

3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.

It is quite easy to set people who love God apart from the others – they seem to be the ones doing good things, but not just doing good but doing it better.

When I see how God changes people when they get to know Him better, I see this ‘good’ spring up instead of the same old reactions I saw before.

God changes people from the inside and those changes get reflected on the outside; this is how we know people know God!