Day 34: Keeping Good Company and Letting Go

I remember growing up my mom would always tell us, “You are known by the company you keep.” At a young age i did not really understand what that meant until I got a bit older and encountered peer pressure. I started to see how being around certain people, I began to alter myself, I picked up their habits, their mannerisms, even their language. That’s fine if the people I was hanging around were good for me, but they weren’t and in due time I became just like them. I always like to think that I am invincible, and no one can change the person I am, but we are all susceptible to people and their influence at one point or another. I know for a fact I was, until I learned to listen to God and my elders wisdom (especially my mother).

-Dyamond

Being influenced by others can work in two ways, and that’s what we are going to talk about today. Are we surrounded by people who help us grow or keep us stagnate, and are we holding on to people who were only supposed to be in our lives for a season?

Proverbs 13:20

Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.

1 Corinthians 15:33

Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." (NIV)

Do not be misled: "Bad companionships corrupt good morals.” (BLB)

Proverbs 27:6

You can trust what your friend says, even when it hurts. But your enemies want to hurt you, even when they act nice.

Are we surrounded by people who are helping us grow? Are we growing from one another. As the scriptures says iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another (Proverbs 27:17). The people that we choose to surround ourselves with must be people we can depend on, people we can go through life with, people that will hold us accountable and lift us up when we need it, and we are there to do the same for them. We must surround ourselves with people who will help us grow spiritually, people that will challenge us and call us out when we need it. The closest people to us should be the ones that challenge us the most, the people that will tell us the truth even if it’s the last thing we want to hear. In so many words I am saying that we need real people around us. As young Christians, every person that we are friends with will not be Christian and that is okay, but we need people in our lives who have the same beliefs and morals as we do. We need people in our lives who are like-minded, even if it’s just one friend that we can pray with and worship with.

• This is the reason why finding a church and being in fellowship with other Christians is so important. When we are surrounded by people who understand our lifestyle, and have the same heart for God as we do, we can learn and grow together. We must be surrounded and immersed into a God-fearing community. We are the body of Christ, a bible living, Jesus loving community. And we sharpen one another.
• We cannot allow ourselves to be  swayed by the people around us who do not have the same morals or beliefs as we do. As we  grow older, especially in our twenties when many people start to question or try to understand religion and figure out what they believe exactly, we must stand firm in our faith. By doing so we can lead others to Christ, and create a community of believers.

Are we able to let go of the people we know are not good for us or people who are only in our lives for a season? Sometimes we hold on to people who were only meant to be in our lives for a season. Meaning, not everyone we meet is going to be there until the end, and I know at the moment it feels like it is. But sometimes we grow apart, sometimes we’ve reached the end of our road, but cutting ties is the hardest part. Because it hurts, we don’t want to hurt anyone and we don’t want to be hurt. But letting go hurts, it’s not permanent but in the meantime it hurts. We have to trust that God brought these people into our lives for a reason and thank HIm that we even had the opportunity to know them. Just because some people are only in our lives for a season does not mean that they were bad for us, it just means that, life doesn’t always go as we planned.

• The best way I can describe this is going through a breakup (many friendships have gone through break-ups as well). When we are in a relationship, and emotionally invested, we are in love with this person. We think we are going to be together forever. We think we can work everything out, and we can get through everything, we are just caught up in love. But one day, it stops working, we fall out of love, we grow apart, we lose trust, whatever the reason may be; we now have to break up. We know that it will hurt us but we also know that staying will make it worse. So we make a wise decision to let go. We can still be friends, and be cordial but we can’t be how we used to be and that’s okay because that’s life.
• Now on the other hand, some people are just toxic for us, and those people we have to get away from. Run away, don’t walk, get away! Run like Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39). Some people are only looking to contaminate, and bring others down with them, (and no, that does not mean everyone is out to get us). Those people we can’t keep as company, even when we love them. Some of the most toxic people in our lives are the ones we love the most, but we have to let them go and continue to pray for them.
• All of this to say, that just because we have to let people go does not mean that it is the end. We don't stop loving them. One of my favorite quotes says, “If you love something, let it go, and if it comes back it was meant to be.” Trust God when He says let go, you never know what He has planned up His sleeve.
  
  

Reflection

1. What type of company are you keeping?
2. Are you surrounded by a community that will help you grow in Christ?
3. If God asked you to let go of a certain someone, would you be able to do it? Why or why not?

Prayer Time

Talk to God about what stood out to you today. Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Ask God to send people in your life that are good for you and help you to let go of people, when the time is right. Ask Him to remove the toxic people from your life. Also pray that you are a person who can be good company, and sharpen others.

Have an amazing day. I love you, and make sure you come back tomorrow for Day 35!