This verse reminds us that the reason we sometimes feel different from the world is because we are not of the world. God is renewing our minds to be less like the world and more like Him. The fact that you desire to be modest is great! Even women in Bible times struggled with this!

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Take these cases for instance: Ever bought a cute outfit to get a guy's attention? Ever tried out for something you didn't really like all that much but tried out because it was the cool thing to do at the time? Ever go further with a boyfriend or guy friend just to feel like you were loved and accepted? Ever join in gossip to feel like you were a part of the group? Then you've subconsciously asked these questions, "Do you love me?" or "Do I have your attention?" or "Do you accept me?"

People are born with the natural desire to be loved and to love. It's really interesting to observe the lengths and risks humanity will take just to feel loved and accepted. We will go into debt to get the car or the clothes or the next cell phone. We will risk our hearts in relationships we know we should NOT be in. We will do pretty much anything to satisfy the void in our hearts for love. What concerns me is people will go to great lengths for a fix (I say this because I'm human, and I know what risks I will take to fill the emptiness in my being).

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Here's the story:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"

"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

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This may sound "old-fashioned", but dating should not be something that consumes your focus…ever. I would suggest also that you not consider it a practical option until you are at least approaching your college years. A common mistake that is made in dating is to confuse the difference between "butterflies in my stomach" and "falling in love". Love is not something you will ever fall into; it is an active choice.

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I remember when my friends and I were your age and we would sit around and analyze for hours what we thought some certain guy meant when he said such and such. Was he flirting? Did he like me? Is he going to ask me out? Should I call him? In these girl talk sessions each and every syllable the guy had uttered was dissected for further research and study. We almost always cracked the code of what the guy in question actually meant—or so we thought. If worse came to worse and we were still left without a clue by the end of our sessions, we resorted to the tried and true get-your-friend-to-ask-him method.

At the time, my friends and I had no idea that on the flipside, the guys were totally and completely clueless. Of course, we imagined that they also sat around and parsed through our words and flirtatious signals in a desperate attempt to crack the code of the female mind. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Imagine a guy calling one of his friends and saying, "After class, she said 'maybe I'll see you later.' Do you think she said that because she wants to see me later or did she just say it like it was no big deal with the emphasis on maybe?" As a mother of a typical teenage son, I have been given a glimpse into the world of guys. He and his friends are cute, athletic, and fun to be around. In a nutshell, they are the kind of guys girls sit around and talk about.

So, what do guys do in their free time?

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