How are your friends influencing you?

For most of us, the people who are our friends have great influence in our lives, sometimes even more influence than we give to some of our family members.

That’s why we find in scripture a caution regarding being careful about who we spend our time with: “Don’t be fooled by those who say such things, for ‘bad company corrupts good character'” (1 Cor. 15:33).

You’ll easily find a constant daily barrage of messages on social media telling you to dump everyone in your life who don’t directly benefit your life and lift you up, a message that stands in stark contrast to the message and example Jesus provided us. He constantly stepped into the lives of difficult people with messy lives who needed Him and could contribute nothing to Him. But life isn’t about one or the other — we need people who support and encourage us, and we also need to pour out our lives in love and service to others.

One thing is key, and that is making sure who we allow to have influence in our lives be people who don’t hold us back from blossoming in our relationship with Jesus Christ, but instead they encourage and support it. We harm ourselves when we allow as influences in our lives those voices that would attempt to hold us back from Jesus. Morgan McKinley expounded further on this issue …

Most of us have some experience with choosing a side in a conflict or a debate. And whether we realize it or not, our positions on any number of things has a way of narrowing our associations. If you’re a Christian, you have Christian friends. If you are an artist, your closest friends are creative in some way. All of us have a particular political leaning, and it’s likely that most of our friends agree with us.

But what if someone has an addiction of some sort? More often than not, the people he or she associates with are caught up in an addiction as well. What you love most will show through the people with whom you surround yourself. If your passion happens to be productive, you will attract like-minded people. But if it’s counter-productive, you will surround yourself with people who will hold you back.

Thus, if you are not yet reconciled to God, then you are most likely surrounded by people who will help keep you that way. Your passion, whether it is for God or not, has led you to where you are right now, to the people in your life.

Are the people who are influencing you following God? Don’t let your friends hold you back!

When it comes to choosing your influencers, the apostle Paul has some blunt instruction for us:

“Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?” 2 Corinthians 6;14-15.

Scotty