Bad Company

• Describe a time when you experienced peer pressure.

• Do choices regarding our friendships matter to God? Why or why not?

My son, if sinful men entice you, do not give in to them … These men lie in wait for their own blood; they ambush only themselves! Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain; it takes away the life of those who get it.
Proverbs 1:10,18-19

There’s a reason people often talk about peer pressure. It’s an incredibly powerful thing. We are created with a desire to belong. We want to fit in. Ultimately, we will belong to and fit in with the body of Christ.

Peer pressure takes advantage of this need for fellowship, but that doesn’t mean that believers are powerless to resist it. We can resist it. We must resist it. As this chapter from Proverbs tells us, if people try to get us to sin, we must not give in to them.

First Corinthians 15:33 tells us that “‘Bad company corrupts good character.’“ The best way to avoid the temptations that come from peer pressure is to be careful about the kind of friends we hang out with. Some people seem like fun, but when we spend time with them, we always seem to get into trouble. Or they do things that make us uncomfortable.

We are called to love others, but we need to keep a healthy distance from people who will try to lead us to sin.

PRAYER
Dear God, please help us to make good decisions. Please help us to keep a healthy distance from people who will try to lead us into sin. Amen.