Mark Twain noted: “We are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going, and then go with the drove.” There is great pressure from a peer group and great pressure from within ourselves to belong. Many people have achieved far less than they could have because of the control others had on them.

We do have an obligation to support our friends and neighbors. We are created to need one another. But each person also has the need to know what pleases God and choose that over pleasing others. It does take courage to live accordingly, but in the end pleasing God will inspire respect from others. We need to weigh the consequences of our actions before following blindly. We may be reliant sheep when we are young, but we must not remain completely dependent. The path to trouble is wide and easy to travel upon (Matthew 7:13). Make sure your decisions are guided by God, the Master Shepherd, not men.