Living a 220 life

The importance of selecting your friends

August 22, 2009 on 10:40 am | In fellowship | No Comments

“But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner–not even to eat with such a person. For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside?”

How many times have you heard the saying, “Bad company corrupts good morals”? How many times have you ignored the saying? Perhaps it’s only me, but for whatever reason, while I was in school I always selected the people who made bad company. Often this bad company, believe it or not, corrupted good morals. Even as adults, we convince ourselves that it’s alright to hang out with certain people who are of questionable character. One of the most redily used and most dangerous lines we convince ourselves with is: ‘Thow shall not judge other people’.

In our politically correct world we’ve become terrified of ‘judging’ other people. We go to great lengths to avoid any accusations of being a judgemental person. Friends, I have news for you. Satan would like for nothing more than for every Christian to completely stop judging others and simply hang out with anyone and everyone. If all believers stopped judging others we’d quickly loose site of righteousness and be blinded by a life of morally smelted grey. Please understand that I’m not advocating a self righteous judgement on the part of believers. Absolutely not. What I am advocating is that believers begin to follow the Spirits leading in their lives, identify sin, and stay away from the sin.

Understand, believers are not to judge non-believers; this is God’s job. We’re called only to judge other believers by their actions. Our judgement of others is not a condemnational judgement but rather more of an assessment. What scripture is teaching us in 1 Corinthians 5:11-12 is not to condemn other people but to be wise in our understanding of the powerful influence sin has in the lives of those around us. When we judge other believers we still love the person but are making a judgement of the amount of sin present in that persons life. It is the sin we are called to disassociate with, not the person. However, the person can’t be seperated from the sin until the backslidden believer denounces the sin in his/her life and is set free by the Lord.

My friends, no one is perfect. I understand this. As you get into the Word and spend more time alone with the Lord you’ll begin to see more clearly those characteristics you no longer wish to associate with. Certainly a believer has no commanalities with a non-believer and as you grow in the Lord you will find some believers who are like non-believers in their actions. I’ve addressed the negative side of this coin so let me lay out the positive side. We, as believers, are called to grow closer to the Lord every minute of every day. The best and most effective way to grow closer to the Lord is to find other people we can walk beside who also desire whole heartedly to walk closer to the Lord every day. By surrounding ourselves with influences that are God honoring we will find it easier to honor God with all that we say and do.

Which ever side of the coin you look at, the principle is the same: surround yourself with people who desire to honor the Lord with their words and actions. People of God, your selection in friends will influence your relationship with the Lord and ultimately will impact your eternal existence. Don’t take the selection process lightly. AMEN!