Choosing Friends Wisely

“Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

I Corinthians 15:33

I think a legitimate question you might ask after reading today’s verse is:

“Who’s the misleader?”

Who would mislead you into believing that bad company has no impact on character?

Those who want to hang with you but don’t want to change their own character.

They are content to do those things that do not strengthen a man but bring him down.

They want to be an influencer but not for good!

So let’s not be misled.

Let’s understand that character does matter.

Let’s be deliberate and wise in choosing our friends.

It cannot simply be those who have something in common.

I am a 63 year old man living in the United States so it is safe to say that I have that much in common with many other men.

But not all who share my birth year or citizenship would make good friends.

So how do we choose friends carefully?

Well, certainly one thing to do is to have friends who are heading in the same direction you are; that is to say – those who encourage you and strengthen you in your walk with God.

Does that mean all your friends are followers of Christ?  

No.

But they know what matters to you and will have your best interests at heart.

They will not demean or disrespect what is important in your life.

There are other things to consider in choosing friends wisely and we shall dig deeper as we continue to look at this topic this week.