Choose your friends carefully

Paul gives very strong direction in this passage to be careful with whom we allow ourselves to associate. Avoid someone who claims to be "Christian" but flaunts a lifestyle that is counter to Christian morals and Christian convictions. Don't go to their house for dinner, don't invite them over for dinner, and don’t hang around them. They will corrupt you, just like a little yeast affects an entire loaf of bread.

On the flip side of the coin, the world is full of people who don't live according to Christian morals and convictions. Are we to ignore them? No! That would be foolish. We'd have to live on another planet for that to be possible anyway. We're sent to preach the Good News to them, not ignore them. We don't judge them; that job is God's, and no one else's.

However, we need to judge who we hang around and who we let influence our lives. If someone claims to be Christian but lives like a devil, don't let them influence you by being around them. Rather, hang around people who love God, and are doing their best to live for Him. Some of the best people to hang around are new Christians. They are so energetic and excited about God and living for Him, and that excitement is infectious.

I choose to associate with like-minded believers, who love God and are submitted to His direction for their lives.

Created almost 2 years ago