You Are Who You Hang With

“Go with wise men and be wise: but he who keeps company with the foolish will be broken.”  Proverbs 13:20 (BBE)

Who you hang with affects you.

• If you surround yourself with those trying to keep up with the Jones’, suddenly so do you.
  
• If you hang out with shop-a-holics, you develop a love for retail therapy. (is that bad?  😉)
  
• If your friends are active in sports, you tend to be as well.

You end up developing a commonality between you and your peeps.  Knowing that… it is so very important that you share your time with those who challenge you to be better, love harder, care more and chase after God.

Spend time with those you want to be like.

It will be different for each of us.  There is no cookie-cutter person we should all be like.  That spells B-O-R-I-N-G.  So put forth some effort and think through who you want to be.

• Maybe you want to be a gourmet cook (not me, I had to spell-check the word “gourmet”)
• Maybe you want to paint or develop your eye for photography
• Maybe you want to learn how to be an above-average helpmate to your spouse
  
• Maybe you want to be a speaker or writer
• Maybe you want to run a triathlon (had to spell-check again)
• Maybe you want to run for an office

My point is… you will become like who you hang with.  But I want to take it a step further and show you how that can profoundly affect your relationship with God and your pursuit of Him.

When you invest most of your time in non-believing friends or believing friends whose faith is in hibernation, you will find yourself pitching your tent in their camp.  Your attitude towards God will change.  His priority in your life will change.  Score one for the Enemy.

But, the opposite is also true.

Your faith will grow when you hang out with someone who is farther along in their walk.  When you spend time with someone who prays in every situation, you’ll become a prayer warrior.  If God is calling you into ministry but not sure where to begin, surround yourself with those that have done the same thing.

Friends, you will become like who you hang out with.

Now I am not suggesting you become an elitist or someone who snubs those who are different from you.  That’s just plain rude, prideful and goes against Jesus’ teachings of loving one another.  No, we better be nice and respectful to others because it’s our opportunity to be Jesus with skin.

I am merely suggesting that your friendships need to be deliberate and life-giving.  Are you tracking with me?

It boils down to this… we need to keep company with people who point us to God… pure and simple.  We need it, and we need to be it.

Think about it.

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