It isn't rocket science that you generally become "like" those you hang with. Even if you have different attitudes about things. This is especially the case in youth. Most youngsters are willing to compromise any belief just to stay in their current group of friends. I suppose that is why drug use is so prevalent in our society today. Kids, most of the time, can't say no when peer pressure is involved. Those who can, reap the rewards of courage, individualism, and better friends!
That paragraph was probably easy to agree with. But now, lets talk about adults for a minute. There are grownups who still act like kids when it comes to choosing their friends. The sad thing is, they're older and should know better. There is a motorcycle couple in our neighborhood who often arrive home just before dawn. We wonder who's taking care of their young daughter. She does manage to get on the elementary school bus every morning. But, how much better would her life be if her parents had different friends?
I think I used to be in that category with the church I attended. I was supposed to believe the Bible a certain way so that I could stay in "fellowship" with my "friends". That church considered everyone who wasn't a member not only lost, but a Biblical false teacher. I rejected a lot of great friends, just to stay in the small circle. That was several years ago, now I belong to a church with a more tolerant attitude. The difference is amazing. 1 Corinthians 13:11 puts it like this, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me (NIV)."
If your friends require you to walk a narrow unreasonable path just to be in their fellowship--get some new ones!
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