Friends. This is Pastor Don. There are so many factors that come together to make us strong emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. I don’t know if this has occurred to you, but the friends you spend time with are one of those factors.
If you look at this from the standpoint of your spiritual walk with God, are your friends a positive influence or negative? Do you have too many friends, or not enough? Do they help you understand yourself and grow into the person you are meant to be? Do they encourage you to become like them or to become your authentic self? Are you better because you are friends with them?
Of course, there are many different reasons to have friends and most of them are important and valuable in their place, but like everything else, these things ought to be looked at more closely sometimes. Because we are so influenced by the friends we keep, it is sometimes true that we will never get to be the people we know we can and ought to be as long as the state of our friendships doesn’t change.
These things are complicated because few things are more beneficial to our well being than friends! We need to regularly give thanks for them. And the right friend can make all the difference in the world! “Holy friendship” can be found in every great spiritual tradition, but we must be sure that the friends we choose actually move us toward becoming more holy ourselves.
Let’s Pray: Holy God, give us the wisdom to seek and find those spiritual companions that help us become more like you. Amen.
