The Value or Cost of Your Friendships

Friends can either benefit you or hurt you. A great friend builds into your life, helps you, and provides a needed service to you. In fact, good friends, who are disciples of Jesus, bolster one’s walk with the Lord. However, spiritually poor friends, those who are not walking in Christ in the Spirit, more than likely will harm your relationship with God. Essentially, there is a value or cost associated with your friendships.

As I mentioned on Monday, the Proverbs teach us this valuable lesson.

He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed. (Proverbs 13:20)

The friends you choose play an important role in your life.

 

Bad Company Corrupts…

Paul, when writing to the Corinthians, explained it this way:

If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God — I say this to your shame! (1 Cor 15:32-34)

Here, Paul teaches the value of those around you. Let me highlight three areas for you:

 

What You Believe Impacts What You Do

Paul connects what you believe with what you do. Notice how he writes, “If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” In other words, if the resurrection is not a reality, then we can all live however we want to live. Your living does not matter if we have no eternal considerations. However, if the resurrection is true and we need to consider eternity, then we better not live however we wish. Eating, drinking, and being merry fails us if, in fact, we face God at the end of our lives.

Therefore, if you believe correctly about the resurrection, your believe will certainly impact what you do.

 

Your Friends Impact What You Do

Paul makes a second point. He writes, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals.'”

He emphasizes the impact that your friends have on what you do. In fact, he does not want us to be confused here. Paul does not want us to be confused or deceived. He emphasizes the point to keep us from missing this important connection of the friends we choose with the life we live.

If you choose to have friends who do not honor the Lord in what they want, say, and do, then you can expect those friends to impact you negatively. Bad company corrupts good morals. You do not find any context where corruption is good in this sense.

 

Therefore, Take Your Walk with God and Others Seriously

Paul concludes with a harsh wake-up call. He writes, “Sober up as you should, and stop sinning! For some have no knowledge of God — I say this to your shame!”

The words here Sober up refer to a drunkard. Just as a drunk needs to get sober, get his mind thinking correctly again, and have the ability to function fully, Paul calls on followers of Christ to sober up.

Quit sinning. Our behavior should reflect the lifestyle of someone serious about following Jesus.

The last statement is interesting. When he refers to some have no knowledge of God as to the reader’s shame, he refers to the fact that they were not taking the reality of the resurrection seriously. Paul’s readers were not factoring in the importance of the resurrection for living daily for the glory of God. Because of the context, I am not completely convinced that Paul is referring completely to those who are the unsaved without a saving knowledge of Jesus; however, some could be in that camp. Instead, I think he refers to those in the church who are not applying what is true about God functionally to the way they live. The result: they functionally did not really know God, because if they did, they would live differently.

 

The Value or Cost of Your Friendships

Each one of us then must carefully consider those with whom we associate. Our companions or friends should honor God. Their theology should reflect a God-oriented respect. To use the Psalm 119:63 referent, they should fear God and obey Him.

Our friends who think what is right and do what is right will create incredible value to us. They will benefit us – just as God intended. It is not selfish to pick the right kind of friends. Why? Because God instructed us to do so. We are to pick wisely because of the impact they have on us as members of the body of Christ.

Further, they can cost us dearly as well. Choose poorly – that is, those who do not honor Jesus, fear God, or choose to obey Him above all else, and you will suffer the consequences. The cost can be great.

One last note: be the friend that walks in Christ wisely. You can be this person to others as well.