Day 2380 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

1 Corinthians 15:33 NIV

Whether we realize it or not, the people that we’re surrounded by are having a bigger impact than we could ever begin to imagine. We may think that we’re the most independent, resilient, and grounded person alive, but that doesn’t make us immune to the influences of those around us. It doesn’t mean that we don’t pick up little habits, learn some questionable things, and start drifting in a direction other than the one that we thought we were going. So we better make absolutely sure that the people we associate with, the people that we call our friends are really making us better. If not, it’s probably time to cut and run.

The problem that we run into is that we want that companionship. We want people to like us. That social approval and validation makes it easier for us to feel good about ourselves. This society is all about the number of friends you have, not necessarily how good those friends are. So we have learned to place this higher importance on having a ton of friends than on having the right friends. We think that being liked by the masses means that we’re doing something right and therefore we don’t have to spend as much time considering our choices or the corresponding actions. We can just keep running full steam ahead because everyone around us likes us so something we’re doing must be working.

As we discussed a bit yesterday, seeking acceptance is going to require us to lose a lot to gain it. We will have to conform to what other people want from us because this place is highly focused on self and what each person wants or thinks is important. So if we’re going to gain that huge number of friends that we think will make us feel better through being liked and accepted, then we’re probably going to have to bend and give in more than we should. We’re going to have to learn to say what they say. We will have to do what they do. We will have to lose little bits of ourselves so that we make the changes necessary to earn their acknowledgement.

It’s one of those hard lessons that we all discover that we’ve gotten wrong at some point. Living to please people rather than sticking to what we know is right and true. Folks, we have to understand that holding tight to our beliefs and refusing to waver will always get us further than having a bunch of people approve of what we do because we only do it to continue gaining their approval. We live in a broken world with all kinds of jacked up ideals and opinions. Trying to please this place or anyone who lives according to its ways will require us to go along with some of those wicked ways ourselves.

That’s what this verse is reminding us. Bad company will pull us away from what’s right. Trying to please the wrong people will force us to do things that we know probably aren’t okay. Surrounding ourselves with those who are heading in the wrong direction will eventually start pulling us in that same direction ourselves. We can’t risk that. I understand that the validation we find in social acceptance feels nice. But if we lose ourselves, our character, our dignity, our souls in the process, then it’s just not worth it! We can’t risk losing something that important for a few friends who probably aren’t going to stick around anyway. Why trade something that has eternal significance for an acquaintance who will lose their interest in you before you know it?

It’s sad to have to admit it, but this place is full of both people who are pursuing righteousness and those who aren’t. Unfortunately there are people who are only out for themselves. They are only interested in wickedness and those who go along with it. But there are also those who are fighting to do better and keep their heads above the filth and depravity. There are people who are genuine and truly care about the people around them. There are those who value friendship as the true rarity that it is and who actually want the very best for the people that God puts in their lives. Seek those people. Surround yourself with the ones that make you want to do better. Find the ones that appreciate who you are and don’t ask you to change or conform to what they’re looking for.

Those people are far more rare, there’s no doubt about it. But we owe it to ourselves to be surrounded with good people who actually want the best for us because they’re the ones who won’t stop building us up and pushing on toward something better. They won’t run out of interest in us when we fail to continue saying the right things or doing whatever they’re doing. Friendship is more than simply mirroring what someone else is doing because that’s what they expect. We can’t afford to settle for this world’s pathetic definition of friendship because doing so will only lead us away from anything good toward a life of conformity and submission.

We’ve all been in that place where our eyes were suddenly opened to the fact that we just said something we didn’t believe because it’s what someone around us wanted to hear. We’ve caught ourselves doing something we know isn’t okay only because those around us were doing it. It’s just not worth it. We can’t lose our morals or the importance of living right for anything. It will definitely mean that we don’t have as many friends. We won’t have nearly as much acceptance, approval, or appreciation. But it’s always a good thing to lose anything and anyone that is holding us back or pulling us in the wrong direction. So lose what you have to lose before it pulls you so far down that you can’t even see the way back up!

#LeaveNoSoulUntold