At age 18, Katie Davis moved to Uganda for a year to do mission work. Her parents and others didn’t exactly want her to, but she said she had to obey God even above her own parents. She ultimately decided to stay in Uganda permanently, started a nonprofit that’s changed countless lives, and adopted 13 orphaned girls. What if she’d let family discourage her from ever going to Uganda? 

You’ve probably heard the story of David and Goliath, but did you know that David faced discouragement from family too? 

“When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle’” (1 Samuel 17:28).

What if David had listened to his brother rather than trusting God to help him fight Goliath? What if he had gone home back to the sheep? 

Friends and even your own family might not always support the ways you try to serve God. The Bible tells us to honor our parents and to love others, but God also makes it clear that he is the ultimate truth and that he comes first. Whether you’re doing big things like moving to Uganda or living out your faith in smaller displays of obedience and trust, don’t let people sway you from following God and his Word.