Have you ever changed jobs, suddenly immersed into a new culture? Did you infect it with your values, or did they infect you?

The Prophet Daniel, as a teenager, was captured and injected into Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar wanted Daniel and his friends indoctrinated into the Babylonian culture, so they were placed in an ancient management training program. The king’s plan backfired. By the end of the story Nebuchadnezzar was bowing to Daniel’s God, not the other way around.

In Daniel 1:8 we learn how Daniel began his strategy, “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.”

If you want to stand firm with your values, resolve not to be defiled.