Day 16
"Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts
good character." (I Corinthians 15:33)
They influence your speech, dress, and
mannerisms. They are your constant mirrors. They have a firm grip on your
heartstrings, and oftentimes they are the difference between success and
failure in the Christian life. Good ones can nudge you to victory. Bad ones can
drag you to defeat. What are they? You guessed it...friends!
The bottom line is that the type of friends who
form your inner circle will most likely determine how faithfully you serve
Christ, and whether or not you make a spiritual difference on your campus. When
Paul wrote today's verse: "Do not be misled. Bad company corrupts good
character " - he was addressing a friendship situation.
The Christians at Corinth had friends who
basically denied the resurrection. In other words, their main goal in life was
to try and find happiness through partying, because there would be no judgment
day. So these believers had friends who were pulling them in the wrong
direction. My guess is that those Christians thought that they were strong
enough in their faith to resist the bad influences of their friends.
Paul says- I don't think so...
So what about it? Are you being misled? Do you
have as your best friends those who have Jesus as their best friend? If not,
it's just a matter of time before your character is corrupted with the virus of
spiritual compromise.
In the words of one pastor: "If you drop a
white glove in the mud...the mud doesn't become 'glovey'...the glove becomes
muddy." This is especially true in relationships. Christian teens that
continue with godless friendships will themselves become godless.
Maybe you need to make some decisions right now
about your inner circle of friends. Don't put it off! The whole direction of
your spiritual life hangs in the balance...
Questions:
On a scale of 1-10 (1=bad, 10=good), what kind
of influence do your friends have on your spiritual life?
Do you really think that "bad company corrupts good character?"
If your closest friends were put on trial for being Christians- would they be convicted? Would you?
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