BAD COMPANY

"I found out what the secret to life is," said the character Ninny Threadgoode, in the movie, Fried Green Tomatoes.  "Friends. Best friends," she said.   In the movie, Ferris Beuller's Day Off, the character Ferris Beuller tells his friend Cameron over the phone,  “If you’re not over here in 15 minutes, you can find yourself a new best friend."  Cameron responds with, “Ha!  You’ve been saying that since the fifth grade.”

I consider relationships of all kinds to be a gift from God.  Those which are pleasant, loving, and comfortable friendship relationships bring joy to our lives.  Those which are difficult and stressful provide an opportunity for personal and spiritual growth.  

God wants us to have friendship relationships which which last forever and beyond into eternity.  Christians only separate temporarily to meet again.  Non-Christians suffer a permanent separation from all relationships including with God.

1 Corinthians 15 is often referred to as the Resurrection Chapter of the Bible on account of how it is loaded with encouragement regarding our eternal destiny as believers.  And right there in the middle of this chapter is a warning about the negative influence of what Paul calls "bad company".  

It is a word of caution about the influence of the godless, secular attitudes of those who do not have a saving knowledge of Jesus.  That influence can quickly spread to our hearts and do great damage to our relationship with God.

God created us to be in good relationships with each other, but we must choose our close friends wisely.  Invest in friendship relationships which build you both up.  Run from those which only prove to tear you down.  Toxic relationships are a distraction from a focus on God and the things of God.  Keeping our focus on God instead of ourselves and our circumstances is what will take us closer to be who were created to be.

Prayer
Father, thank you so much for the gift of relationships.  Thank you for how You have used those in my life, both positive and negative, to strengthen my faith and to draw me closer to You.  Give me the discernment to identify those relationships Paul identified which might corrupt good morals in my life.  Amen

#Missions #Evident #MásDeTi

3 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” -- 1 Corinthians 15:33 (CSB)