Sunday Snippets: Real or Fake friends?

Proverbs 27:17 "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend."

First off, I want to say I'm sorry I haven't been posting really anything except Sunday Snippets lately. We've been in the very busy, rather chaotic period of gradually moving into our new house. ;) I haven't had much time for doing blog stuff. Anyway, hopefully there will be one or two guest posts soon, as well as my personal testimony of salvation at some point. Stay tuned. :)

To return to the point; today I was thinking a lot about the power of friends, both good and bad. I personally know multiple people who have walked away from the will of God completely, due almost entirely to the influence of their friends. Others have been pulled back from the brink of spiritual danger because a friend took the time and effort to pray for them and be an encouragement. In 1 Corinthians 15:33 it says, "Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." In the verse at the head of this post, it says that friends can "sharpen" each other spiritually. God's Word is very clear on the fact that our friends influence us greatly! That being the case, I'd say it is pretty important to choose your friends wisely, don't you think?

So if it's this important to have friends that will lift you up, rather than drag you down spiritually, what are some ways that we can tell the bad friends from the good ones? Some people can be pretty good pretenders, after all! Here are a few things that, from my experience, are vital to watch for in a potential friend.

• Does this person talk down about the authorities in their life? This is a really bad sign. If someone can't respect the leadership God has placed over them, how then can they follow God, the ultimate authority?
• Do they consistently push boundaries? Are they always trying to get a little more of what they want, even when there's already been guidelines set up?
• Do they speak negatively and/or inappropriately? BIG red flag here! Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (Luke 6:45) If there's trash coming out of someone's mouth, it means there's trash in their heart.
• Do they encourage you towards Godly thoughts and actions, or away from them? This is the biggest question of all. When you come away from a conversation with this person, do you feel uplifted spiritually? Or does it feel more like you've just been hanging out with a non-Christian?

This is not an all-inclusive list, but I hope it encourages you to think carefully about who you choose to be close friends with. Please understand, we need to show Christ's love to those around us, regardless. I'm not saying we should totally shun everyone who is not living according to God's Word. Of course not! :) However, there should be a distinct difference in who we as God's children spend the majority of our time with. If we surround ourselves with those who care nothing about serving Him with their whole hearts, our entire lives will be affected by that mindset. Let's hold onto the Godly friends we've been blessed with!! Also one last thing: if you want to BE a true friend? Apply this list to your own life. :)
Mykaela