Thursday, May 17, 2012

Avoid Bad Influences

Dear brothers and sisters, if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. -- Galatians 6:1

Some people are best avoided. I know. It’s just plain and simple advice. All of us have people in our lives who bring out the worst in us and the best way to deal with it is to just avoid being around them as much as we can.

The reasons they are a bad influence are varied. Maybe they aren’t honest. Maybe they have a drug or alcohol problem. Maybe they don’t share your values. Whatever the reason, they seem determined to take you down with them.

You’ve heard the comments. “Oh, what’s one more drink?” or “Surely, you can afford to buy that for yourself?” or “It’s okay. Nobody will ever know who took it.” Yeah. They’ve got a lot of excuses.

And if you don’t go along, they’ve got plenty to say about that too. “What are you, a goody two-shoes?” “Surely you don’t need to check with your spouse about every thing you buy?” or “Are you afraid you can’t handle it?” They’d like to force you into doing what they want by turning it into an issue of pride or respect.

If you’re wise, you resist. But sometimes it’s hard. It really is. Because you want that new pair of shoes you really don’t need and can’t afford. Or you figure who’ll notice those office supplies missing. Or you tell yourself that one more drink can’t possibly make that much difference in your ability to drive home. Temptation is everywhere.

There’s another group of people that’s best to avoid as well. Those are the ones who really get on your nerves. They call you incessantly. They ask the same questions again and again. They’re slow. They’re clumsy. They’re, well, they just can’t help being who they are anymore than you can help being who you are.

But they make it really hard to control that evil tongue of yours. You find yourself wanting to lash out in the worst way. You dislike yourself for disliking them. You even think bad thoughts about them. You know it’s all sin. We’re supposed to love everyone, especially the people we really don’t like.

So, sometimes the best course of action is to stay away from people who lead you to sin. I know sometimes it’s not easy. Family members are some of the worst when it come to this. But the more you limit your time with them, the easier it will be to resist the temptations. And the more you resist the temptations, the better influence you’ll be for them.

And that’s how it should be. Paul tells us to help people return to the right path but he also warned us about not falling into that temptation ourselves. Sometimes that means keeping those who tempt us with their sin at a healthy distance from our lives.