Who Are Your Friends?

I wish I could say that I am strong enough to stay close to the Lord regardless of who I spend my free time with. I wish I could say that I have never strayed from God’s path or taken my eyes off of my Shepherd because of peer pressure. I wish I could say that I have somehow figured out how to effectively balance the desires of my flesh with the desires of God’s heart. But I can’t.

So often, I have chosen the wrong thing. I have spent many a day with the wrong people, engaging in the wrong activities, laughing at the wrong jokes. It has been a good ten years now since I surrendered my whole heart to the Lord, and I seldom see those people anymore. But when I do, I find myself falling back into some of those bad habits or unhealthy activities again. Before I know what’s happening, I’m using words that I haven’t used in years and making comments about others that I am shocked to hear coming out of my mouth.

Why do I do that? Why do I fall back into old patterns around certain people? Because who we choose to spend our time with matters. I don’t quite understand the psychology behind it, but I do know that we are easily influenced by others. The more that we spend time with a person, or a group of people, the more we begin to think and act like them.

Without a support system of believers, it only took me a year and a half to walk away from the Lord when I moved to a new town by myself in my early twenties. Fifteen years later, it only took me nine months to reconnect with the Lord after my husband and I started getting to know a community of believers in our town. Who we surround ourselves with matters.

But it can’t end there. You can’t base your salvation simply on the people you choose to hang out with. Jesus is the only way to salvation, and the only way to get to know him is to read his written word. He is the one that you want influencing you. The only reason that other believers are a good influence is because they know him too.
I am not saying that you shouldn’t remain friends with those who don’t believe. But maybe consider how much time you are spending in those relationships. Be honest with yourself regarding your own behaviors when you are with different friends. Are you engaging in sinful activities or types of speech with your friends on Saturday and then trying to balance that with church on Sunday? Do your friends encourage you to seek the Lord in all things?

These are tough questions, but necessary ones, I think. We need to be intentional with who we allow to speak into our lives and with who we let impact our decisions and our actions. The only way to do that is to surround ourselves with God’s truth, both in his word and with those who are closest to us.

Jesus, I want to get to know you, first and foremost. I want to choose to spend time with you each day within your word. But then, I also desire to have your people around me as well. Please bring me to the right friends that will point me right back to you. Amen

Throughout This Day: Evaluate your current friends honestly. Ask yourself the tough questions. In which ways are they influencing your behaviors and choices? Is the friendship building you up and pointing you to Jesus, or is it tearing you down? Do you act differently with different friends? Ask God for the wisdom and strength to make any hard decisions that need to be made.