Are we surrounded by good influences?

Proverbs is known to many as Wisdom literature. It’s always good to be reminded of the way that we should be living every day by referring to the Word as we should. Some of these are so BASIC, yet we disregard them without hesitation because of what makes us feel good, or by fear of what someone may think of us.

This morning I was drawn to Proverbs 13, and the meat of what I beleive the Lord was trying to remind me of is:

Proverbs 13:20-21

²⁰ Walk with the wise and become wise,
   for a companion of fools suffers harm.

 ²¹ Trouble pursues the sinner,
   but the righteous are rewarded with good things.

This is something we were taught as children, and never believed our parents because we thought they were just trying to control who we hung out with. We assumed they were more concerned about their precious reputation, or some kind of prejudice they might have, etc. Of course we would always justify by telling them that “Oh they are getting better” or “They really aren’t that way, they just act that way because people….” or “You’re just overreacting!”.

Truth of the matter is, we do end up becoming like those that we choose to surround ourselves with. Just like how music, television, movies, etc. influence our attitudes and way of thinking, so do the people we associate with daily. We are all foolish at times, and surround ourselves with people that would drag us down with them at some point. How far will we allow someone to drag us before we sink our heels in and say NO MORE!?

Some things we should always be asking ourselves are:

1. Is this person living a life that I want for myself, and my children (future children if you’re not yet a parent)?
2. Can this person help me achieve my personal, professional and spiritual goals in my life?
3. Will this person be one that will stick by my side no matter what, lift me up when I am broken, etc?
4. Does my choice to be around this person positively affect those people in my life that I care about?

At this point in my life, if I have answered NO to any of these questions, then I have made a concious decision to not associate with the person unless I have to in  a professional capacity. Being a military person, there are times that I do have to associate with people that can bring you down just by opening their mouths. Little did I know that the Lord was preparing me this morning for a debate that I ended up having with a senior ranking person in my office that tried to get me to look at something that was against my views, and wouldn’t take no for an answer until I lost my temper. I later apologized, but it was then that I had to explain my place to him and set boundaries which I explain that I didn’t care what his rank was, that my spiritual and moral beliefs were set in stone no matter what!

If you come across people that just won’t leave it alone, the best thing you can do is just establish boundaries. Let them know where you stand, and pray for them in the meantime.