Mosiah 15-17

Quote "You don't need to compromise your standards to be accepted by good friends. The more obedient you are...the more the Lord can help you overcome temptation. You can also help others because they will feel your strength. Let them know about your standards by consistently living them...No one intends to make serious mistakes. They come when you compromise your standards to be more accepted by others. You be the strong one. you be the leader. Choose good friends and resist peer pressure together."

~Elder Richard G. Scott

Question "Why did King Noah not resist the pressure from the evil priests? What helps you to resist peer pressure?"

I'm glad to have this idea reinforced to me, because I have found myself struggling with my kids following the ways of their friends, even if it conflicts with the teachings of the gospel. I have had many conversations with my kids lately about setting the example instead of following other kids examples.
I believe King Noah loved his lifestyle too much to give it up. He did not want to humble himself to even consider that he was doing wrong. We see this in today's society, where people with wealth look at poorer people and judge them, and say "who are you to tell me anything?". There was one point where King Noah was fearful of Abinidi, and was about to release him, but his priests convinced him to stay the course of death. His priests did not want to give up their lifestyles, and they certainly did not want this random guy to come in and make them look bad as priests....that he would know more than they did....not good for the priests.
I think everyone in life is subject to peer pressure....some positive, some negative. We all give in at times, at least to some small degree. There are certain things that I never struggled with because I had made up my mind at an early age that I wasn't going to do them. An example of that for me was drinking. I went to a lot of parties where people drank, and I never wanted to and I never did, despite the attempts made to get me to do so. There are other things that I did fall under the pressure, for example, for me, on thing was cussing. I had a horrible mouth when I was younger. I still have a hard time not using any bad language ever, and I catch myself all the time. My kids have heard me use bad language, and I've heard them say those words...and I've told them that I'm sorry for setting that example, and that the best reason not to use those words, is because it is very hard to stop. It's much easier if you just don't do it to begin with, and I think that is true of all bad things. The best way to resist peer pressure, in my opinion, is just to make up your mind TODAY that you are not going to do A, B, C, D..etc... regardless of who is or what people think of you. You need to know for yourself why you don't want to do it.