Mind Your Company

"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company corrupts good morals.'"
1 Corinthians 15:33 NASB

We are relational beings, created for connection. Strong and healthy relationships are not optional extras in life, they are foundational to building a life that honors God and fulfills His purposes for us.

This is why we must be extremely careful about whom we allow into our inner circle. The people we surround ourselves with become relational capital that either enriches or bankrupts our lives, our businesses, our marriages, and our spiritual walks. Bad company doesn't just influence us, it corrupts us.

The insidious nature of wrong companionship is perhaps best seen in children. You've likely witnessed it yourself: a child leaves home in the morning soft-spoken, kind, and wholesome in their language, only to return from school using foul language and displaying attitudes you've never taught them.

What happened in those few hours? They absorbed it from friends and social acquaintances. This is the reality Paul warns us about: evil company corrupts good morals, often gradually and almost undetectable.

As Jim Rohn wisely observed, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with." This isn't just motivational rhetoric, it's biblical truth. The company you keep shapes your character, influences your decisions, and ultimately determines your destination.

If you want to be successful in life, associate with people who are passionate about success and committed to excellence.

 If you want to build a marriage that lasts, don't spend time with people who don't value marriage or constantly speak negatively about the opposite sex.

As a woman, people who continually nag and call men "dogs" will poison your perspective and destroy your marriage.

As a man, those who mock commitment and disrespect women will erode your ability to love your wife well.

These people will shift your perspective and give you a negative mentality that will inevitably influence the outcome of your life.

Wisdom literature makes this abundantly clear: "He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm" (Proverbs 13:20 NASB).

Notice the direct correlation: wisdom comes from walking with the wise, while harm comes from companionship with fools. Some people suffer harm not because they are inherently bad, but because of the company they choose to keep.

If you want to maintain spiritual purity and grow in godliness, you cannot afford to associate closely with those who live in hypocrisy or moral compromise. Instead, find people who worship God with pure hearts and sincere intentions.

Paul instructs Timothy with urgency: "Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart" (2 Timothy 2:22 NASB).

Notice that Paul doesn't just say "flee from sin", he says pursue righteousness with others who are also pursuing God sincerely. The Christian life was never meant to be lived in isolation.

This is why being part of a good, healthy church is so important. You need a spiritual community where the Word of God is preached without compromise, where truth is spoken in love, where imperfection is acknowledged but health is pursued. You need a place that gives you room to become what God has called you to be, surrounded by others on the same journey.

Whether we acknowledge it or not, our associations will either build us up or break us down.

Choose your friends and closest allies wisely, prayerfully, and intentionally. They have a greater influence on who you become than the devil himself or your worst enemies ever could. Your enemies can attack you from the outside, but your companions shape you from the inside.

So today, take inventory. Look at the five people you spend the most time with. Are they calling you higher or pulling you lower? Are they speaking life or death? Are they encouraging your faith or feeding your doubts?

Mind your company. Your future depends on it.

Prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank for teaching me the power of the relationships I keep. Help me to choose my friends wisely, and my inner circle with utmost care and intentionality. Remove close to me those who are double tongued; who secretly work to undermine my progress while smile in my face. Reveal the heart of those close to me and if they are found wanting, please give me the courage to dissociate myself from their evil company in Jesus Name, Amen.