“Become wise by walking with the wise, hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces”. – Proverbs 13:20
“It’s better to have a partner than to go it alone. Share the work, share the wealth. And if one falls down, the other helps, but if there’s no one to help, tough!“ – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
As teenagers, we often value our friends above everything else. We put them above our parents, above our responsibilities. The type of friends you make tells a lot about you as a person. Dan Pena said it well in his famous quote, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” If someone told you that you resemble your best friend, will you take it as an insult? Or will you be glad that you look like them? Friends leave a much greater impact than you might think.
We even start looking like the people we spend the most time with. We adopt their habits and manners, whether it’s good or bad. If you have good, God-fearing friends, you’ll adopt positive habits. On the other hand, bad friends do the exact opposite, you’re being impacted in a negative way.
Influence goes both ways, so choose your friends wisely! It’s okay to have flawed friends. It’s not okay to have friends that drive you away from God and His Word. If you have people like this in your life, you may need to sit with Jesus and ask Him to remove them from your life. It’ll be painful, but remember- if God closes a door, He opens a new one. He might be waiting to send a special friend across your path that’ll lead you closer to Jesus.
Sometimes, we really have to “let go and let God”, even if it means cutting people out of our lives. Jesus always has your best interest at heart, and with Him in your life you’ll never be lonely.
Choose Good Friends
Prayer: Lord, please help me to remove toxic people from my life. Help me to find friends that also know You. Thank you for the good friends that You’ve already put in my life. I pray for my friends and ask that You will reveal Yourself to them and change their hearts. Amen.
Challenge: Look at the people in your life. Are they having a positive impact on your life? Reconsider the type of person you allow to change you. Ask Jesus to show you who to be friends with.
