Why We Need To Choose Our Friends Carefully

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I have been reading about King Ahab and how he was influenced to do evil by his wife. Of course it wasn’t just her fault – he definitely had responsibility, but it says that ‘there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.’

As a lady said to me on twitter when I mentioned this, being influenced by others to do wrong is easily done. How many times have you been chatting with someone cheerfully and then come away at the end realising that you have said something you shouldn’t have because of their influence? It could be gossip, or talking negatively about someone…

Since it is so easy to be influenced negatively we really need to be careful who our husbands and wives and friends are! Now I’m not saying change your husband of course! But if you are not married yet, take good care to find someone who is a good influence on you and not a bad one.

And we need to actively think about our friendships. Even among Christians it is easy to befriend someone who drags you down.

I have steered clear of hanging out with some people before because they gossiped or talked negatively about their husbands. Even though I could resist that kind of thing the first few times, it is very easy to start doing the same thing along with them if you hang around them long enough.

There is a great proverb in the Bible about this:

‘The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.’
So we need to think about who we spend time with, that we don’t choose unwisely as Ahab did, marrying a woman from a pagan country, and that we don’t get stirred up to do what we know is wrong but make sure that we do what is right in God’s eyes. 
Part of ‘Living the Life’ on Wednesdays

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