Tell me who your friends are and I’ll tell you who you are.

Choosing Godly friends is just as important as choosing a Godly spouse. Just like your spouse, your friends are people you will be sharing your life with and making memories with. If the people you choose to surround yourself with do not have the love of Jesus in their hearts, how can you expect them to love you? This does not mean that because we are Christians we can only be friends with Christians. It just means that we should have a close circle of friends who share the love of the Lord that we can count on, fellowship with, and turn to in times of joy and pain. Though some people make friends very easily, it can be daunting to meet and trust new people. If you are anything like me, you are skeptical of people and their motives. This could be because I have had such turbulent friendships. Lucky for us, God gives some clear cut signs to tell if someone would be a good friend.

1. Proverbs 13:20 Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble. Wise friends are good friends because they will help us to be wise. Makes sense right? If we hang out with wise people, we will do wise things. If we hang out with fools, we will do foolish things.
2. Proverbs 29:9 The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense. A good friend will give good, Godly counsel. They will rejoice with you in your triumps and pray with you through your storms.
3. Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. A good friend will have our best interests at heart and will help us to be the best version of ourselves. A good friend will not hold back the tough love when we need to hear a good dose of truth.

We all have a desire to have friends and be accepted by our peers, but we have to be good judges of who we let in our lives because the people we allow to be a part of our lives will influence our lives for better or for worse. Here are some warnings about people we should stay away from found in the Bible.

1. Proverbs 1:15-16 My child, don’t go along with them! Stay far from their paths. They rush to commit evil deeds. They hurry to commit murder. The bible is pretty clear, we do not want to be in the wrong crowds. It is easy to get caught up in wrong situations and be tempted to make wrong choices when we are hanging out with people who are ungodly.
2. Proverbs 25:26 If the godly give in to the wicked, its like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring. God expects us to live pure lives, when I was teaching this to my daughter, we talked about how adding just a small amount of bleach to our water would make our water impure and undrinkable. The same happens to our purity when we allow wickedness to muddy up our lives.
3. Proverbs 22:24-25 Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul. When I went through my divorce, I was such an angry bitter woman. I gave in to the hate and let it control me. I feel like I was in such an awful place and I am sure I lead some of my I closest friends down the wrong paths. I did’nt have the Lord in my life and I was full of worldly knowledge. I had terrible worldly advice, that same worldly advice that lead me straight in to my divorce. It is best to stay away from angry, bitter people, trust me.

So, we have gone over a few principles of good, godly friendships and some warnings of how dangerous people could potentially harm your life and your soul. Now, I want to state again, that it is good to be friends with non believers as well. Yes, Jesus was friends with tax collectors, prostitutes, and drunkards; But Jesus didn’t become like them, he changed them because he loved them. Be kind to everyone and keep your self out of harms way by not participating in sinful behaviors. Make good friends that you can replenish your faith with and share the love of Jesus with everyone.