January 10, 2018

ices Can Have A Big Impact

Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. – Proverbs 13:20

A sweet friend shares an analogy: If you rub a clean white shirt again a dirty shirt, the clean white shirt becomes dirty every time. Her lesson: Watch who you associate with because dirt has a way of spreading.

Why do we think we can hang out with people not walking in God’s ways and yet be immune from their influences? We assume we are strong enough to withstand the obvious onslaught. We ignore the small defeats that lead to a path we never intended to take.

Consider this: You head to a bar just for the music. Well, one drink won’t hurt. Maybe two. Just to be sociable. And before long you’re joining your friends in making lewd comments about some of the women. Another drink, a little encouragement, and you’re flirting with a woman who isn’t your wife. From there it’s just a short fall to a place you never intended to go.

Or consider this: Most of your co-workers pad their expenses. They brag about it, taking time to show you just how it’s done. You listen because you’re curious. What could it hurt? Everyone does it so it must be okay. A little here, a little there. It’s not really stealing if everyone does it. Is it?

You join the crowd in badmouthing someone. You defend a “friend” when you know he is being dishonest. You make excuses for not helping someone who isn’t like you. In fact, you join the anti-parade rather than love the people God has put before you. Surely God doesn’t expect you to hold people you like accountable. And He couldn’t possibly expect you to do good to people who aren’t like you.

How quickly we descend down that slippery slope of self-righteousness and excuses. How easy it is to preach at others while we turn away from God’s true Word. In our hearts, we are better than they are. We acknowledge our own sins only to the point of noting that at least we aren’t like them. We’re right about that. We are worse.

Watch where you spend your time. Be wary of who you hang around. Don’t think yourself above all the rest. The slope seems safe but it is slippery. All it takes is one step to tumble all the way down.