Every relationship is a give and take one. It involves a transference of character and even the transference of habits.
Children always adopt the personalities of their parents, but this adoption does not only happen inside the home. It happens even with our peers at school, at work, and even at church.
The kind of friends you choose to hang out with eventually will be the type of person you become.
Whoever walks with the wise become wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. -Proverbs 13:20 ESV
I have always considered relationships to be sensitive because I know that my choices will affect me in the long run.
At one time, I hung out with people who collected stationery. Beautiful paper was all the rave and I adopted the love for such. I was probably 10 or 11 years old then, young, but because of that choice, up until this day, and I'm 24, beautiful paper still makes my heart flutter. I don't regret this.
Another time when I was 21, my companions, not by choice really, did nothing but complain from the moment they woke up 'till the moment before they slept. I was in the same apartment with them. The normal me was not a complainer. It's not something I invested my time in, but because of my daily association with them, one day, I found myself complaining from sun up to sun down for a season. And then I met Jesus and he fixed me from this temporary malfunction.
See how your friends are become how you are? Walk with the wise and you will become wise. Try walking with fools.... Actually, don't try. Just take God's word for it when He says that the companion of fools will suffer harm.
Here's another warning from the Word: Bad company corrupts good character says 1 Corinthians 15:33.
In our walk with God, it is vital that we choose who we make friends with and whose relationships we want to maintain.
I've learned by experience from the Lord that if a person does not contribute to my growth, I have a choice to let go or to hold on. Letting go means that I can walk my walk of faith faster, but holding on will slow me down.
The Lord gives and He takes away. Not everyone is meant to be in our lives forever, but the Lord is faithful to give us relationships that will last. Relationships where the growth is continuous and is mutual. Most of all, He gives us a relationship that is centered on Jesus.
This is just a friendly reminder. Make a review of your relationships, then consider your future. If a person is no longer beneficial to you, say, a person who does nothing but hurt you or bring you to places you don't want to go to, then get rid of them.
In our walk with the Lord, it is vital that we desire to please Him and that means that we must stop pleasing men.
Our salvation does not depend on our friends, but on God.
Which is more important?
