Choose Your Friends Carefully – Two2Grow, May 6
Choose Your Friends Carefully – Two2Grow, May 6
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV)
Have you ever thought about how your friends affect your relationship with God? Some of our friends aren’t good for us. One of Satan’s tactics is to try to get us entangled with relationships that are hurtful and that brings us down. People who lead us into temptation, who criticize our love for the Lord and who pour water on our passion to live out and out for God.
I have seen this pattern many times: The moment someone starts to get serious with Jesus, they want change priorities and to reorient their life towards the kingdom of God, usually a close friend will bring discouragements. Or, say, a young man or girl is setting their heart on following Jesus, out of nowhere comes an unsaved romance with an attractive person that quenches their first love for Jesus. Or when someone sense a call to become a missionary, going to other cultures, peoples, and nations to share the gospel, they get discouraged because their friends don’t believe in them or even talk them out of it.
At almost every step of faith in our lives, Emelie and I have had people close to us who discouraged and criticized what we thought was of the Lord. Had we listened to them, we would have missed the will of God for our lives.
Jesus also had friends and family members who didn’t believe in him (Mark 3:21; Luke 4:16–30). Had Jesus followed their lead, he would not have fulfilled the Father’s plan of salvation.
At times you must get out of relationships that are distracting to you. That is painful and costly. But sometimes necessary. The Holy Spirit will give you the strength to do it and you will see how the Lord will provide new and better friends.
Lord Jesus, I pray that you lead me to good friends that will help me walk closer to you.
Pastor Mikael Stenhammar, PhD
Have you ever thought about how your friends affect your relationship with God? Some of our friends aren’t good for us. One of Satan’s tactics is to try to get us entangled with relationships that are hurtful and that brings us down. People who lead us into temptation, who criticize our love for the Lord and who pour water on our passion to live out and out for God.
I have seen this pattern many times: The moment someone starts to get serious with Jesus, they want change priorities and to reorient their life towards the kingdom of God, usually a close friend will bring discouragements. Or, say, a young man or girl is setting their heart on following Jesus, out of nowhere comes an unsaved romance with an attractive person that quenches their first love for Jesus. Or when someone sense a call to become a missionary, going to other cultures, peoples, and nations to share the gospel, they get discouraged because their friends don’t believe in them or even talk them out of it.
At almost every step of faith in our lives, Emelie and I have had people close to us who discouraged and criticized what we thought was of the Lord. Had we listened to them, we would have missed the will of God for our lives.
Jesus also had friends and family members who didn’t believe in him (Mark 3:21; Luke 4:16–30). Had Jesus followed their lead, he would not have fulfilled the Father’s plan of salvation.
At times you must get out of relationships that are distracting to you. That is painful and costly. But sometimes necessary. The Holy Spirit will give you the strength to do it and you will see how the Lord will provide new and better friends.
Lord Jesus, I pray that you lead me to good friends that will help me walk closer to you.
Pastor Mikael Stenhammar, PhD