Episode 587

TODAY’S READING

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

1 Corinthians 15:33

The other day I had a couple of friends over at my house, they were in the pool, and I was inside. And when I came out to see them and to hang out with them. They say hey, I have noticed that you’ve had around five bees that we’ve seen, and they’ve just been hanging out. So you know what that means? And that was like, what does that mean? Do we have five bees? And she said no, there should be or there might be a beehive somewhere on the property. Well, first of all, I don’t like bees, so that we will save the bees. If I find the beehive, I will call one of those awesome—beekeepers to come and remove them safely. But we need them removed because I don’t like the idea of getting stung by a bee. It’s just not. I’m very allergic to all kinds of bee stings or Bugs, bugs, mosquito bites, all of it; you name it. And so I know that if I find the beehive, I need to remove it. But like she said, if there are five, it’s most likely because there is some sort of Hive nearby. So I say that story to paint a picture of what a bad company looks like. So at first, it’s one, two, or three people in your life that may be corrupted; their good character may have been corrupted somewhere along the way. 

Maybe it’s because they don’t believe like you, and they are living other values that you may not be aligned with, and that doesn’t make them bad person. But if their morals and your morals do not align, then it’s not necessarily good company for you and your spiritual block. So I want to be very careful when I say that because I have many, many friends that do not believe the same way that I believe. So what does that mean for me and my walk? Well, I always keep my friends around. If they aren’t good people, I like their company, but I always look for if their morals start to tip to align words corrupt company. And so what this verse says again, do not be deceived. Bad Company ruins good morals. If their company is no longer a good company but a bad company meaning, they come out of those conversations. Very charged, very down, very sad, or heavy, then that’s not necessarily the company that I want to be around. So there are two sides to everything. You can have friendships with people who don’t believe you, my best friend. She is of the Muslim faith. I have a roommate where you saw me now married and live with my husband, but my roommate is Jewish. And so I love that example because the three of us can always be in the same room together. We are all, or they are both walking my wedding. And so I can share time and comfort and love and different moments of life with two of my closest friends that do not have the same belief as me, but they do not give me bad company. Now at the same time, I can walk into an office space and see the way that someone may be talking about someone else and the conversations that they may be partaking in the lifestyle that they choose to partake in. That might be a bad company, and therefore, you have to have a line or a boundary in which you will allow that person to continue to speak into your life because it says here, do not be deceived. Bad Company ruins good morals. So long story short, check your circle of friends. Check the voices in your life. And if you have one B, two B, three B’s lingering around you, well, there might be a hive that you’re not aware of, that you’re very close to that is feeding those kinds of morals and bad, corrupt company into your life. And so be vigilant for that. Be on the lookout for that. 

Ask the Holy Spirit to always guide you and lead you into every conversation and be ready that not every single person is going to be your greatest friend. And that’s okay. So at the same time, make sure that you’re surrounded by good faithful people as well that share your same morals and values so that you have a nice mixture of both, you have good loving friendships in your life, and you have great company no matter where you look.

Prayer:

Father God, we thank You, Lord, and thank you for the people that you have in our lives. We thank you that we can share our love. We can share our faith; we can share you, Lord, the testimony that you have given us with those that we love and trust the most. We can also share your love father with our neighbors, those that don’t necessarily believe like you. But God, we’re looking for a particular corrupt character, a bad company that we may need to remove from our lives. One is completely different from the other, and so Lord, we’re looking for bad, corrupt morals that may be lingering, and if there is any presence in our lives, May You give us the strength to walk away from those kinds of relationships; we thank You. We thank you for the wisdom that Your Holy Spirit continues to pour into us; we absolutely adore you, and we love you when we pray this all in your son’s mighty name. Amen.