1 Corinthians 15:33 “Do not be deceived:  “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Who you choose to spend the majority of your time with does make a difference in who you become!  We see it in our children but we have to remember that as adults as well.  For some reason, negative influence tends to be picked up quicker than good.  Who knows why that may be and it doesn’t really matter why, it just matters that it is!  If you want to be successful in life, coaches will tell you that you need to attach yourself to successful people!  If you want to be more godly then you need to find godly people to spend time with.  Who do you want to become?  You can’t hang out with negative people for long before they begin to rub off on you.  You can’t be around people who have standards that are in the gutter before you find yourself in the gutter with them.  Ask yourself why you are clinging to a friendship that you know is not good ~ is it money or influence? What price might you pay in the long run for it?  Take your friendships to God.

Just like we need to be careful what we read or watch on TV, we need to be careful of the influence we allow in our lives by other people on a daily basis.  Clearly, we don’t have choices in most cases of who we are around at work, but we do have a choice on how much we consume and what they have to say.  I am constantly reminding Abby (13) “garbage in ~ garbage out”, so she will remember that when she is choosing what music to listen to, what books to read, what videos to watch, and what she allows her friends to say to influence her.  The only one we need to impress in our lives is God and it is our obedience to Him that draws a smile.

Care about your morals!  Care about how you live your life in front of others.  Choose high standards.  Choose to spend more time with God and less time in front of your TV.  Remember that we tend to only become as successful as the people we choose to spend most of our time with, that is why sometimes God seems to pull us aside for a while so He has us to Himself.  Have you ever felt that way; like all of your friends and family seem distant and you have no one to go to?  God allows that at times when He needs you to focus on Him and Him alone!  He loves you and He wants to be your influence so you can grow into all He has created you to be!  He doesn’t want you to miss out!  There are also times when God may clean house and remove some people from your life which can be painful, but He will replace them with people who are going to help move you toward the next level if you allow Him to work in and through you.  (I am not including family members and I am not talking about losing someone who passes on to eternity)

Choose today and every day, what sphere of influence you are going to allow in your and your family’s lives!  It matters in the bigger scheme of things.  The choices you make today will affect all of your tomorrows!  Choose wisely!

Quote:  “A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.”  ~ English Proverb