Daniel 3: starting in verse 1
Why did Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego defy King Nebuchadnezzar, because they made a quality decision to follow God and not to do the things of this world. They did not follow the crowd to do the latest thing or fad. But they put their stake in the ground and did not move. They decided that they were not going to give into the temptations of this world. They were going to do things God's way not man's way. We are often tempted to take the easy path but that may not be the best path. When we were in school, it was easy to take the easy path, skip class, not do home work, don't study. But only those that made a quality decision to do the work got the real benefit from that work. It is not until you make a quality decision to put your stake in the ground and say with a clear clean voice, "This is where I stand and I will not back down". It is only then that you really get serious about what you are doing. When you say with your heart, "I will learn this!", "I will do this!", "I am a child of the living God and I will be a true representation of Christ on this Earth". Only when you say that, will the physical world and the spiritual world both know that you are serious and respect what you are doing.

If a person wishes to become rich, should they learn from a rich person or a poor person?
If a person wishes to become wise, should they learn from a smart person or a dumb person?
If a person wishes to become Godly, who should they learn from?
What are your friends teaching you?

There is only one time when you should get even with someone, and that is when they do something nice to you.

     When you speak, can you honestly say that "Christ would say that"? Would Christ use those words? When you go some place, can you honestly say that Christ would go there and do the things that you do? How do you treat people? Would you want to be treated that way? Would Christ do that to someone? The reasons why I ask is that if we are to be Christians (Christ like), then we must be like Christ in everything that we do.
    Ephesians 4: 17-19 (Amplified Bible), So this I say and solemnly testify in [the name of ] the Lord [as in His Presence], that you must no longer live as the heathen (unbelievers) do in their perverseness - in the folly, vanity and emptiness of their souls and the futility - of their minds.
    Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God - with no share in it. [This is because of the ignorance - and willfull blindness - that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart.
(see Ephesians chapters 4 and 5)

    In 1999 a study showed that the average American living to the average life expectancy spends 13 years watching TV. When you die, do you really want a tombstone that says "Here lies (your name) who dedicated 13 years of their life to watching TV", or would you rather have it read something else?