There will be times when each of you will have to demonstrate your righteous courage in plain view of your peers. A friend of mine, John, shared with me one of those moments in his life.

Hey, so who's this guy again? He sat next to me on the plane. I think his name was Brandon. It's his second year here. He said everyone from the international group was going to be there. It's not, like, a school event. It's a student-run event. Should be good. All right.

What's going on, Brandon? Hey, how you doing, man? Thanks for the invite. Yeah, no problem, dude. No problem. Thanks for coming. This looks good. Yeah, it's excellent, right? Yeah. Open it. Open it. Open it. Open it, man. You're killing me. Open the thing. Let's hope the last four years have paid off. We want to visit Japan. Oh, let's hope so. I don't want to go there alone. I got in. Oh, look at that! Oh, yeah? Yeah. Congratulations! Congrats! Are you ready for school? Uh, yeah. What was your name again? I'm Brandon. What are you studying? I always wanted to be an engineer--build robots and stuff. So show us around, man. Who are all these people? Better yet, who are those girls you were talking to? So where are you guys from? We're, uh-- Canada. Canada. Oh, nice. I'm from New York. I've been here for, um, about-- I hope you guys aren't partying without me, are you? Hi, I'm Matt. Hi. Excuse me, ladies, but I need to talk to these guys. Well, guess who's going to be looking after you two in Japan? What? You got the money? Yeah. Congratulations, bro!

As the night wore on, the atmosphere changed. The noise, music volume, and alcohol amplified, as did John's uneasiness. Then suddenly someone began organizing the students into a large circle with the intent of sharing marijuana cigarettes. Uh, yeah. Not too bad, huh? Brandon, come on. [INAUDIBLE] What's going on over here?

Come on. All right. Hey. Maybe we should go. John, this is easy. We'll just stand in the circle, and when it's our turn, we'll pass it along rather than smoke it. I mean, that way we don't have to embarrass ourselves in front of everyone by leaving. Come on, guys. Come on.

John, we can just do what Matt said. Come on. We've met some good people tonight. Let's just not spoil it. You can go if you want, but I'm staying. I'll meet you back at the dorm. Matt. Get off me.

[LAUGHTER]

There will be times when you, like John, will have to demonstrate your righteous courage in plain view of your peers. Be strong! "Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved." Come on, Jason.

Jason.

I promise the Lord will empower you. He will reward you for your courage and righteous behavior--with happiness and joy.

When the police appeared at the top of the stairs, the students quickly threw the illegal drugs off the roof so they wouldn't be caught. After securing the stairway, however, the officers lined up everyone on the roof and asked each student to extend both hands.

Now let me tell you what happened to these three friends.

The friend who stayed on the roof was expelled from the university in Japan to which he had worked so hard to be accepted and was required to return home. All who had held the marijuana, whether they had smoked it or not, were presumed guilty. Dreams of an education, years of preparation, and the possibility of future employment in Japan were dashed in a moment. The friend who left the party that night with John finished school in Japan and went on to earn degrees from two top-tier universities in the United States. His career took him back to Asia, where he has enjoyed immense professional success. He remains grateful to this day for John's courageous example. As for John, the consequences in his life have been immeasurable. His time in Japan that year led him to a happy marriage and subsequent birth of two sons. He has been a very successful businessman and recently became a professor at a Japanese university. Imagine how different his life would have been had he not had the courage to leave the party on that important evening in Japan. Remember, what you do, where you go, and what you see will shape who you become.